it's a zoo

Wow! Where has the time gone? Once we started our school year the days have been filled. Filled to the brim with books and learning and writing and memorizing and loving every minute. You know things are going well when there are squeals of excitement when it's time for history. Then to top it off when the school day is done and there is time to play they quickly build a city and citadel of blocks and reenact what they so eagerly learned. But where does the zoo part come in? you ask. Well, we just finished a nice rainy staycation. A week of cloudy, cool, overcast days that beckoned us to relax and enjoy just being home. together. We did manage to squeeze in two very excellent day trips. Days where the clouds kept us shaded from the sun and very kindly held on to their droplets until we had packed in every ounce of fun we could manage. So yes, our first trip was to the zoo. Not any old zoo, mind you, but the North Carolina Zoo. My personal fav. If you've never been there and live within 3 hours of it...it is well worth it. It's a natural habitat zoo so there is a lot of walking. Five miles...give or take. But I tell you, with the beautiful grounds and abundance of animals the miles go by with hardly a second thought.

So, you wanna see some pictures? You know I took like a million, right? Okay, maybe it was closer to 300, but who's counting?Well, hello gorgeous! Lions, always my favorite.
Yes dear, you look fine in stripes.
Such a showoff!

A trio of amazing creations.

She turned to face the sun while it shone for few minutes.

Busy bees, those girls of mine. Also, I learned a lot from the apiarist volunteer.

This grizzly was such a poser.

A stunning pair...one with a bad hair cut, it seems.

Soaking up the warmth on the rocks.

This is just the tip of the ice berg, so to speak. We had such a wonderful day at the zoo. xoANG

it's a zoo out there::part three

Okay, this is my final post about our trip to the NC Zoo. These pictures are all from the North America side of the zoo. We spent our morning in Africa, went out to the car for a nice picnic lunch, then drove to the North American side to begin the second half of our day. I must confess, we did rent a nice double stroller for this part. I know, my kids are 7 and 4 and they shouldn't need to ride when they've got perfectly good feet for walking. But let me tell you...there is a lot of walking. Tim got a nice workout pushing the stroller, especially on the uphill parts. The girls did get out and walk a lot, but when they were tired and hot it was nice to have that stroller with a canopy to keep the whining at bay. Anyway, on to North America. First stop...seals, sea lions, and polar bears. The sea lion was taking a nap with her snout in the water, the seal entertained us with her underwater acrobatics, and the polar bear was getting a light snack. Evidently he didn't want me to catch him eating...but I did anyway!

Then we were on to the stream and river section. Oh, there's a lovely, yet dark, indoor exhibit with many types of fish, snakes, bats, and owls. Most of those pictures didn't turn out very well. But, when we went outside the next animal we came to was the river otter. Seriously, one of the cutest little mammals out there.

Next up, after a nice stroll through the woods, was the grizzly bear. So cute and fuzzy, but seriously scary claws. Looks like someone could use a mani/pedi.

Then we made our way over to the black bear. These guys are everywhere around here but I've never seen one up close. This one at the zoo was loving the attention and after a nice bath by the waterfall and posing for a few close-ups, he decided to stretch and out be cute.

Lastly, we encountered some frontier animals. The bison were so big and majestic. They were very calm and quiet as they munched on the grass. Every time I see one it reminds me of Dances with Wolves. And then there were the elk. The female obviously didn't want me to take her picture. I assume it was because she was shedding her winter fur and was a little mangy...but did she have to stick her tongue out? Sheesh! And the male, well, he sauntered around with his newly growing antlers like he owned the joint. Amazing creatures.

So there you have it...our trip to the North Carolina Zoo. We all had a great time and if you can make your way there I know you'll love it, too. Happy Friday! xoANG

it's a zoo out there::part two

Throughout the North Carolina Zoo , on the trails between exhibits and as part of some exhibits, there are many beautiful plants and flowers. Here are just a few that I captured along the way. Unfortunately, I didn't catch the names of these beauties, but they are still gorgeous, nonetheless. And just so you know, there will be an amazing display of orchids in the African Pavilion during the entire month of May.

We also spent a lot of time in the aviary. It's such a strange, yet wonderful feeling to be near so many birds. Exotic, tropical birds. The sounds they made were amazing. Some of the birds weren't too scared of us and they let us get pretty close. Others didn't really care to have us in there and watched us from above. And still others sang loudly as if playing marco polo with us. We just had to follow the sound and have keen eyes and then we'd spot them.

This zoo used to have a petting zoo section but not any more. I was kind of sad about that because I really wanted to see some goats and sheep and chickens. To our delight though, they turned the petting zoo into a wonderful area of exploration for the kids. There was a butterfly garden, a long, winding maze of a balance beam made of logs, garden trellis tunnels to walk through, a bamboo maze (which the girls did by themselves-twice!), a wall on which to draw with chalk or paint with water, a pond stocked with tiny fish and timid frogs that drew us in because there were little nets all around for us to use in catching something...we didn't. It was still very fun.

A new section that we were excited to find was all about honey bees. I was quite smitten with the whole design. The walkways and garden fencing were all hexagon shaped. There were flowers everywhere to attract the bees and little information signs with cool facts about bees. There was also a real hive enclosed in glass so we could see all of the activity and bees in various stages of life. Fascinating.

And just so you are completely aware...the Africa side of the zoo will be opening a new exhibit on May 22nd....Lemur Island! Happy Wednesday xo ANG

it's a zoo out there::part one

We went to the zoo a couple of weeks ago and I've been dying to share some pictures. What zoo? you ask. The North Carolina Zoo. It's so great! If you live within 3 or 4 hours it is well worth the trip. We got up super early, made it there by 9am when they opened, and had a great day. There are two parts to the zoo, an Africa side and a North America side. We started our day in Africa hoping to catch some early morning action. The lions, much to my dismay, were already snoozing and didn't seem to have any intention of getting up while we were there. So, on to the apes we went. The chimps and gorillas are always entertaining and fascinating. The giant silver back gorilla named Nkosi was amazing with his piercing stare and playful antics. The chimps, well, they're always so funny. There's always a couple of jokesters in there. They are such a hoot! A couple of them had handfuls of monkey chow that they were being stingy with even while they played. Several of the others found green beans to munch on while they seemed to study us through the glass while we studied them. It was a fun way to start the day!

Next, we went through a building that used to be an indoor monkey habitat but now housed flowers and banana trees and coffee plants. Right after that was the baboons. There were two new babies that chased and played. There were also some very menacing older baboons that weren't too keen on the lady with the camera, hence the intimidating stares I captured.

Elephants were next. Oh, we've never been so close to them. They were quite majestic up close like that. Okay, dirty and stinky, but still quite majestic. There were some rhinos in there too but they were being antisocial.

Then on to the lovely and beautiful giraffes and zebras. So there were a few ostriches thrown in there for fun. The giraffes chased them around for a while as the zebras seemed unimpressed. After all of the running the ostriches stared at us for a while, no doubt trying to make me insecure about my short and inadequate eyelashes.

So that is Africa for you. The zoo is a natural habitat one so there is plenty of walking in between each exhibit. There are plenty of beautiful trees and flowers to enjoy while strolling along.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures! Happy Tuesday xo ANG

fun at the zoo

If you know me, you know that Tim and I love zoos. Where ever we go on vacation if there is a zoo nearby we will go to it. TheNorth Carolina Zoo is one of our favorites. It's a huge, natural habitat zoo so there is a lot of walking, but is all worth it. If you've never been to this zoo and you live close enough to it, you really should go there for a visit. The girls love zoos, too. What little kid doesn't love to see all of the animals? Anyway, it was a long day but we enjoyed every minute of it. Thankfully we took our wagon with us so the girls could ride when they got tired of walking. Of course, Tim did all of the uphill pulling...isn't he great?! Here are some pictures...lots of pictures.

Cute chimps, pretty pink birds, giggling girls, perfect playground, enormous elephants, big bison, huge hippo, towering tortoises, gentle giraffes, happy hatchlings, radical rhinos, precious polar bear, oh...the fun!

After hours and hours of zoo fun the girls fell asleep five minutes into the trip home.