Twice a year, the Fort Worth Zoo has a homeschool day where admission is less than half off and they offer several indepth classes and have employees throughout the zoo answering questions about the animals and career information.
This year, we finally made it back to the zoo. On the way, I asked N which animal he wanted to see. His answer was "Zebra's" - after much thought. I then asked him if he wanted to see any other animals and he answered with great astonishment "I can see more than one?"
Part of the gang headed toward the entrance. This year, they brought along their adopted grandfather Mr. Randy. According to him, it's his first visit to the Fort Worth Zoo, although his children and wife all remember frequent visits.
After several years, we've discovered that the best away to avoid the small crowds that homeschool day brings, is to travel backwards through the zoo. So, we started with the reptile house and then picked up the main path in the middle.
We also saw several aquariums filled with fish and stingray's and found an exhibit of Komoto Dragons.
There are two penguin areas. The indoor penguins weren't being very cooperative and stayed in the back of their habitat. The outdoor penguins, which are from Africa, were a little more friendly, although they didn't obligate our wish of seeing them swim.
The beautiful waterfall at the entrance to the Texas area.
The stage coach in the TX area is always a fun place to visit. They all agreed that the van is a much better way to travel.
This year was our first to go without a stroller so we were able to walk across the swing bridge. I think next time, I'll just stay on the regular path - it made me dizzy for a little bit afterwards. The kids (all of them) enjoyed it.
A favorite place to visit is the touch tank. This one is filled with items found along the TX coast. N thought it was pretty cool to be able to touch some "fish".
The pelicans were enjoying the early afternoon. They were the only ones in the TX area that were really cooperative with our visit. The black bears were sleeping and the sea otters were sunning themselves. The cougar was being majestic and the bald eagle was so active that it was hard to get a good picture.
Another favorite activity is to see what bird you are. N is a Peregrine Falcon; H is a Barn Owl; Z is a Red Tailed Hawk; S and Mr. Randy are Turkey Vultures.
After lunch, we headed into the big animal area. The first animals we came too were the Meerkats. ..... and then the Elephants!!!.... and the Giraffe's and the ostrich....... and the Elephants!!
The giraffe's were all moving around in their slow precise way. There are at least 3 babies and they came out to visit. The elephants - they were showing off today!!! One of the babies was in the water, with probably her mother, and they were trying to get the other baby (both about 3 years old), to come in and play. The two in the water would splash and the baby out of the water would back away a little bit and then move forward when the other two turned away again. Very cute to watch!!
And then came the cats! They were being lazy but cooperative with poses and pictures. The white tiger was in a perfect spot for looking at through the viewing window. Unfortunately, the viewing window is so scratched, it doesn't take very good pictures, so we had to look through the side bars to get any descent pictures. This is my favorite animal at the zoo. I think the tigers are just beautiful!!!
The lions were all out sunning themselves. The king of the jungle even was so obliging that he roared for us a few times and gracefully strolled through enclosure and acted like he was going to climb down. Of all the animals, the only one N decided he needed to find Mama on was the lion. Guess the roar was a little too scary for a 4 yr old.
We found Buckbeak!
The kangaroos were sunning themselves but were gracious enough to move around a little so N could see them move.
Our last stop was the primate house - we saw the baby gorilla and some baby monkeys too.
C preferred the be compared to a monkey instead of a bird. N thought it was all fun! A just gave us all "are you kidding me?" looks. The rhino's had several vantage points throughout the zoo. We decided they were just plain big and ugly.
This is silly time waiting for everyone to get ready to go. Above is King of the rocks (and he's about intelligent as them - his own words!).
This year, we finally made it back to the zoo. On the way, I asked N which animal he wanted to see. His answer was "Zebra's" - after much thought. I then asked him if he wanted to see any other animals and he answered with great astonishment "I can see more than one?"
Part of the gang headed toward the entrance. This year, they brought along their adopted grandfather Mr. Randy. According to him, it's his first visit to the Fort Worth Zoo, although his children and wife all remember frequent visits.
After several years, we've discovered that the best away to avoid the small crowds that homeschool day brings, is to travel backwards through the zoo. So, we started with the reptile house and then picked up the main path in the middle.
N: "This is SO MUCH FUN!!!!" This little guy is an Egyptian turtle. He's my favorite of the reptiles.
We also saw several aquariums filled with fish and stingray's and found an exhibit of Komoto Dragons.
The beautiful waterfall at the entrance to the Texas area.
This year was our first to go without a stroller so we were able to walk across the swing bridge. I think next time, I'll just stay on the regular path - it made me dizzy for a little bit afterwards. The kids (all of them) enjoyed it.
A favorite place to visit is the touch tank. This one is filled with items found along the TX coast. N thought it was pretty cool to be able to touch some "fish".
The pelicans were enjoying the early afternoon. They were the only ones in the TX area that were really cooperative with our visit. The black bears were sleeping and the sea otters were sunning themselves. The cougar was being majestic and the bald eagle was so active that it was hard to get a good picture.
Another favorite activity is to see what bird you are. N is a Peregrine Falcon; H is a Barn Owl; Z is a Red Tailed Hawk; S and Mr. Randy are Turkey Vultures.
After lunch, we headed into the big animal area. The first animals we came too were the Meerkats. ..... and then the Elephants!!!.... and the Giraffe's and the ostrich....... and the Elephants!!
The giraffe's were all moving around in their slow precise way. There are at least 3 babies and they came out to visit. The elephants - they were showing off today!!! One of the babies was in the water, with probably her mother, and they were trying to get the other baby (both about 3 years old), to come in and play. The two in the water would splash and the baby out of the water would back away a little bit and then move forward when the other two turned away again. Very cute to watch!!
And then came the cats! They were being lazy but cooperative with poses and pictures. The white tiger was in a perfect spot for looking at through the viewing window. Unfortunately, the viewing window is so scratched, it doesn't take very good pictures, so we had to look through the side bars to get any descent pictures. This is my favorite animal at the zoo. I think the tigers are just beautiful!!!
The lions were all out sunning themselves. The king of the jungle even was so obliging that he roared for us a few times and gracefully strolled through enclosure and acted like he was going to climb down. Of all the animals, the only one N decided he needed to find Mama on was the lion. Guess the roar was a little too scary for a 4 yr old.
The kangaroos were sunning themselves but were gracious enough to move around a little so N could see them move.
Our last stop was the primate house - we saw the baby gorilla and some baby monkeys too.
C preferred the be compared to a monkey instead of a bird. N thought it was all fun! A just gave us all "are you kidding me?" looks. The rhino's had several vantage points throughout the zoo. We decided they were just plain big and ugly.
A very good picture of Craig taken by C
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