Animal Adventures

Today we made a spur of the moment decision to go the St. Louis Zoo. The zoo is wonderful and the best part is the admission is free...however you do have to pay for parking. The weather was perfect for an outdoor adventure, although it was hot! It was extremely crowded so we didn't have the chance to see many animals and Kyle wasn't able to ride the carousel. We did venture into the Children's Zoo for the first time. Kyle was able to pet a snake...well actually he grabbed it and wanted to pick it up...needless to say the zoo volunteer wasn't very happy and neither was the snake. This section of the zoo also has a sprinkler area for the children, but we weren't prepared for Kyle to get very wet so he couldn't have much water fun. We will remember this for our next visit to the zoo. Kyle did enjoy petting the goats and even was nice enough to brush one of them. Since we were there at lunch time we stopped and had lunch at one of the outdoor cafe areas.

We enjoyed our first official summer family adventure. We hope to have many more fun times together over the next several months. Hope you enjoy the pictures from our day at the zoo!

Da-Dee and Kyle

Kyle "petting"the snake Our little otter

"Grooming" the goat Most of the goats were just relaxing

Birthday Tradition

For the third year in a row, we followed Kyle's birthday tradition. Each year we take him to the St. Louis Zoo in Forest Park. If you haven't been to the STL zoo it is definately a must see! It is one of the best zoos in the country...and the best part of all it is free! Kyle has always enjoyed going to the zoo and with the pretty fall weather it makes for a perfect outing to begin his birthday celebrations. Recently, there have been several babies born at the zoo...including five tiger cubs, giraffe, and a zebra. The birthday boy loves riding on the carousel and also the train.

When Kyle is several years older there is an Engineer of the Day program offered at the zoo. We plan to have Kyle be the Engineer of the Day on his birthday. I'm sure he will think it is the best thing ever!!!

Tomorrow is the Big Day so I plan to post about all of Kyle's excitement!

Kyle saying hello to the ducks!

One of the five tiger cubs..they are so adorable! Tiger cub is tired from pouncing on his mommy! Kyle is getting ready to pet the tiger fur. Cute baby giraffe. Kyle looking "cool" while riding the carousel. Kyle riding the train.

Looking at the penguins.

Exerting a little energy.

Taking a break.

Day Three - Kansas City Zoo

WELCOME TO THE

KANSAS CITY ZOO

After spending the past two days in the water, we decided to stay dry this morning and visit the Kansas City Zoo. The zoo itself is on the Mo. side of KC....we are staying on the KS. side. It was an overcast morning which helped keep the temperature nice and comfortable for a short time, although it was beginning to quickly warm up as the afternoon approached. We are spoiled with the awesome zoo in STL, so unfortunately this zoo didn't quite compare, but still we had a good time.

As usual, Kyle had the best seat to tour the zoo. The strollers at these type of venues are awesome so we have started to rent a stroller instead of using Kyle's smaller umbrella stroller.

One of our first stops was taking a ride on the carousel. This is always a must for Kyle at the zoo. He doesn't like for us to leave his side, plus we don't want to take the chance he will fall off either so John and I ride alongside him. We don't mind because it's fun for us too.

Kyle and Mommy on the carousel.

Our next stop was the bird sanctuary. We attempted to have one of the birds land on our shoulder or arm, but didn't have any luck. In the picture below... before the picture was taken, Kyle tried to "pet" the bird and the bird snapped at his hand. That is why you see Kyle's hand tucked in his jumper.

I promise, we really did see some animals. I really didn't want to post pictures of the animals to bore you. We did see the elephants, flamingos, cheetas, otters, gazelles, warthog, deer, llamas, goats...and many others. We also took a tram ride around the zoo which gave us the ability to view much of the grounds and see many more animals. Kyle wanted to make a stop in the Kid Zone so he could play on the playground. Sometimes, this seems to be more fun for him than getting to see the animals.

Taking a break for a photo opportunity.

It sure was a fun morning, but was also exhausting. Kyle passed out on the way back to the lodge. Thankfully, he came back to the room and fell back asleep...his first true nap on the trip. Once, he wakes up from his nap we will be headed out again so please check back for more details about the remainder of our day.

ALL DONE!!!