Daddy: Right from the moment your mom and I walked in and started descending the path down through Black Bear Ridge we knew we were in for a great day. The first resident of the zoo to greet us was a brand new black bear that was just getting used to his new home. He had lived in a cage in Utah up until that zoo decided to re-do their exhibits. When we saw him he was just getting used to the feel of dirt underneath his enormous claws. You smiled at the big bear and we were on our way to see 'Cougar Crossing'. Daddy was thinking 'Why would the zoo put 40 year old - ish single women in an exhibit?...turns out that there were actual real live cougars in a great looking habitat behind the wires. The sign said that even though most people have never seen a cougar in the wild, there are cougars in every part of WA and OR. Watch out when you go on hikes up to the motocross park!
From predators to more predators we passed by the wolves (there are only 5 packs in WA and OR!), the elk, and finally the huge elephants before we stopped outside the African savanna for lunch. Brown bagging it, mommy, daddy, and you sat down next to the aviary filling our tummies and warming up in the tropical atmosphere. Then it was on to Africa.
Africa showed us a small pride of lions, a snoozing tiger, and a couple of huge hippopotamuses. Daddy took you out of the stroller to take a look at the zebra. It looked just like the one hanging in your room at home!
By now it was time for the snake room. There we saw how a snake sees...with heat. The thermal camera showed that Mommy wasn't kidding when she says she had really cold hands. They showed up blue on the screen! In your stroller you were nice and warm so your picture was red, orange, and white.
By now you were still happy yet just about to start coming unglued. We made one more pass at the zoo (singing "We're on our way, we're on our way, on our way to the petting zoo") and out to the car.
We all had a great time and will make sure to tell you stories of your first trip to the zoo!
