Purcell Family: We Went Out and Played at the Zoo Today

Earlier this morning, Bill and I decided it would be a perfect day to take Nolan to the Zoo. The last time we took Nolan to the Zoo he was only 6 months old! Times sure does fly, since he is now 16 months old. The weather was perfect, 65 degrees and sunny. All of the animals were out playing and Nolan was able to see a lot of active animals. Bill bought the Safari Pass, so we were able to see shows, ride the train, and visit the Children's Zoo at no extra cost!!

Since Nolan is now a toddler, I wanted to take him to the Children's Zoo to have a hands on experience with the animals. He really liked petting the goats and pointing at all of the other animals.

Poot loved the reptiles!

Nolan is almost as tall as a Koala Bear!

I think he was trying to figure out how to ride the goat.

The goats kept climbing the rock walls

We completed the tour of the Children's Zoo and decided to take Nolan around to see a few of the other animals close by. Nolan enjoyed the elephants. There were two baby elephants playing out in the yard. Nolan kept hearing the train whistle in the distance. Every time it sounded he waved his arm and said, "bye bye." We decided our next stop would be the train station. All three of us were able to fit into one seat. Nolan enjoyed the train ride, and so did daddy. I thought Bill was going to fall asleep because it was so relaxing. The only thing Nolan did not like about the train was the dark tunnels we had to go through. The train was great because we were able to map out where the animals were located that we wanted to see.

One of the baby elephants chowing down

Nolan and I on the train

Nolan has been watching the movie "Happy Feet", so I wanted to take him to see the penguins. As soon as we rolled up into the entrance, he started smiling and laughing at the little guys playing in the water. It was an even better treat when we took him inside to see the other penguins. His eyes lit right up!! It's so neat to see how he reacts to live animals because he recognizes them from a movie. He was able to pet a penguin that was swimming in one of the indoor pools. The temperature was really chilly for the penguins, hence Nolan wearing his hat. Since Nolan enjoyed the penguins so much, I got him a souvenir t-shirt with penguins on it.

My boys!

Along with seeing the penguins, I wanted Nolan to ride the carousel. He was a little antsy at first, but as soon as the ride starting going round and round he hung on for dear life. He didn't whine or smile, so I'm not too sure what he thought of the carousel. I chose a Puffin for him to ride on, like Sven from Happy Feet Two.

Waiting in line

Yay!!

Nolan had his first taste of cotton candy. At first, he thought the texture was funny and he wouldn't put it in his mouth. After he got a taste of the sugary substance, he stuck the whole piece in his mouth. I only let him have one little taste, and I devoured the rest of the bag myself. The baby was quite active after I ate the bag of cotton candy!! All of the sugar...

I'll never forget the picture my mom took of my dad and I at the Zoo when I was little. I was standing on the gorilla with my dad holding onto me, so I had to recapture the picture with Poot. The crazy thing is both pictures were taken in April, but 24 years apart. It is weird to see how the Zoo has changed since 1988. Nolan wanted to sit on the gorilla, and we had to get a picture of Bill and Nolan too. A lady was nice enough to take a picture of all of us as a family.