We went to the zoo! (tons of pictures...)

Today was our zoo day. Lily had no idea what a zoo was before today. We read Goodnight Gorilla to her every night, so she knows that the zoo keeper's wife takes the gorilla back to the zoo after discovering a menagerie in her room...but that's about it. Another mom planned and arranged for a zoo guide to take us around to a bunch of areas in the zoo, with toddler friendly activities along the way.

We started out at the guinea pig area, and fed them breakfast. This was fun - the guide had a bag full of cut up fruit and veggies for the kids to grab and toss into the pen. Unfortunately, when you give a toddler a piece of apple or pepper, the first thing they do is try to eat it. I convinced Lily to toss in her piece of sweet potato, and she watched the little piggies eat away. The kids all loved this part, and would have stayed all day to feed and watch them eat, but we had other areas to go see.

After the piggies, it was off to the children's area. Here the guide had the kids pet a duck, and then we were able to let the kids loose into the petting zoo. Thank goodness I'm not picky about dirt - this place was a germaphobe's worst nightmare. It's a zoo - that means fur and feathers and mud and poop. It's all washable. They have a sink station right outside the petting zoo - soap and water fixes everything.


Lily was so good about waiting for her turn - I was impressed at how polite she was.
You can't see it in the picture, but the first thing the duck did when it was Lily's turn to pet it, was poop. Not so polite...

Once we had visited the petting zoo, we wandered into the inside pavilion to see some 'animal artifacts'. I'm not sure what I was thinking these would be, but they were just that. Artifacts. As in preserved stuffed turtle. And wallaby hide. And fox hide. I have the worst poker face, so I'm sure my horrified look, as the guide passed me a sea turtle carcass, made some of the other parents snicker. The guide alternated between 'artifacts' and real animals. Lily was able to pet a tortoise, a rat, an armadillo and...a skunk. Yes, a skunk. Her name was Gucci, and according to the guide, Gucci has had her scent glands removed so she couldn't possibly spray us. But Gucci didn't smell like a bed of flowers...she smelled like a giant stinky ferret.

After we finished up with the stinky skunk, we went on a quick tour. We stopped for lunch at the snack bar - great burgers there, by the way. I tried to be healthy and opted for the side salad instead of fries. Should have had the fries. The guinea pigs get the good lettuce at the zoo.

After snacks, Lily went on the merry-go-round. She wasn't quite sure about it while we rode, but of course as soon as it was done, she asked to have 'more ride'. It was sweet - we rode with another little girl who was probably 4 months older. She was there with grandma and grandpa and they all looked like they were having a blast.
(She rode in on her tricycle; belted in, wearing a coat and a bicycle helmet. Probably dressed by her mom. I had to laugh - the first time we passed her she was off the trike but had the helmet on. The next time, no helmet and grandpa was driving the trike. The next pass, she had handed her coat to grandma and was running around. Grandma and Grandpa rules are much different than Mom and Dad rules...)

We wandered about, looking at this and that. Some of the areas of the zoo are under construction - badly needed by the way. The habitats for the sea lions and seals were embarrassingly shoddy and small. Most of the spaces were way too small for the animals, but it looks like the zoo is making an effort to make some changes. They used to have a miniature railway, but have taken out the tracks and station to make room for some new exhibits. They have a new train, an electric one that uses the same walkways as everyone else. I think this was Lily's favorite part - she didn't want to get off, and said "More train" when I told her it was all done and someone else needed a turn on the train.

We saw leopards and tigers, red pandas and foxes, owls and a zebra, and Lucy the elephant even made an appearance. Lily was thrilled to see some monkeys - her favorite creature of all.

We finished our tour just as the skies decided to get nasty. There was rain just as I closed my car door. Lily lasted about 4 1/2 minutes before falling asleep in the car.

Then we went off to a zoo of another kind. West Edmonton Mall. I tried on 452 dresses, but didn't find a thing. Bought a skirt and 2 shirts, none of which are suitable for the wedding I have to go to on Friday. Yes, tomorrow. Came home, collapsed, and ordered pizza.


It was a great day!