Semi-Sunny Socal Sojourn - Part 3

The San Diego Zoo!!!
It was a chilly day in San Diego...even for us Northwesterners. Although we did not go so far as to put on down coats, furry boots and mittens, like some people we saw at the zoo, we did have to put on our jackets and put socks on under the boys' sandals (stylin'...I know). I think the temperature dipped down into the low 50's.

Despite the chill, it was a great day to be at the zoo. I think the animals were feeling lively, and crowds were not too thick. We arrived just minutes after the zoo opened because we knew this would be an all-day adventure. The first thing we did was take a bus tour of the park, which was a great idea. They have double decker buses, so we sat on top and got some great views of the animals and had a really informative and funny tour guide.

The California Condors have only recently returned to the zoo.

This peacock was strutting his stuff at the very entrance to the park.

The boys were mesmerized by some monkeys.

I guess it is rare to see this alpha male mandril out and about, so we were pretty lucky!

Levi meets the orangutang.

Grumpy Capuchin.

Me and my boys :)

Levi loved looking at the zebras.

Cute little red panda.

The San Diego Zoo is famous for their panda program. This guy looks pretty comfortable here :)

Tiger.

Daniel was our tour guide.

This Lioness really liked the crowds and was very content to sit right next to the glass and let the kids gawk at her.

After miles of walking, 2 express bus rides and a tram ride over the park, we were ready to call it day...at least most of us were. Jeff probably could have stayed there till the sun went down, but the boys and I were exhausted. As we were heading to the exit Jeff looked at the map again and realized that we hadn't gone to the reptile exhibit. All it took was one glare from me as I was trying to carry a wriggling, crying, over-tired 25 lb, 18 month old and Jeff conceded that we had probably done enough for one day.

I would LOVE to go back to the zoo some day and actually spend 2 or 3 days going through it (a 1 year family pass is the same price as 1 day's admission for a family!), really taking time to read the signs, go to the keeper talks and spend more than 10 seconds looking at each animal. It was a fun day though, and the boys loved it, so I don't regret taking them.

Our hotel was only about an 8 minute drive from the zoo, but this little guy fell asleep before we even left the parking lot.