September 29, 2012
San Diego Zoo
After two days at Disneyland, we decided to change pace and go to the zoo. Although I was born and raised in southern California, I somehow had never made a trip to the San Diego Zoo. Brian went when he was a kid, but other than that, this was a new experience for us all!
The San Diego zoo is spread out over 100 acres and houses over 4,000 animals. With Annika on my back in a backpack and Irelynn in the stroller most of the time, we miraculously covered nearly the entire zoo. The only exhibit we missed was the panda bear exhibit. We walked for hours - Brian and I were impressed with ourselves! So we justified eating junk food because we worked off a bazillion calories :)
Gigantic map of the zoo
Some of these Galapagos tortoises were over 130 years old! I know, shocking!
The California Kingsnake, TWO-headed specimen!
We got to see a show where we learned about various animals and even saw some perform. The kids loved to see the wolves and the seals.
I have some wild animals at home, too...
Among our favorite animals were the Okapi.
Is it a zebra? Donkey? Horse? Deer? Nope, it's an Okapi. We learned that they're found in a tropical mountain forest in central Africa. They're not endangered, but they are shy so not many people see them. Brian and I thought it looked like an animal you'd see in a sci-fi movie like Avatar :)
They had an awesome Polar Bear exhibit.
Branson liked the rhinoceros exhibit the best. Probably because one of them kept nudging the other one forward by bumping his horn in his rear end! We were laughing so hard!
I spy a monkey...
There they are! My little monkeys...
At the end of a very looong day of walking, we put a quarter in the "Footsie Wootsie" machine and all shared stepping on the vibrating metal plate to relax our tired feet... laughing the whole time.
It was a great three-day vacation to southern California. One we'll not soon forget. The kids are already asking to return! Maybe next year...
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