put me in the zoo

On Friday I took the kids to a small, local zoo.  The Plumpton Park Zoo is about 25 minutes from our house and has been around forever.  I remember going with my nephew Joe when he was little and he is now 14 and as tall as me.  The last time I took the boys to this zoo was four years ago and not much has changed.  It is under new ownership and I did see them starting to make changes and improve the conditions.

Even though it was small and at times confusing (not all the cages had signs as to what we were looking at or some had signs and were empty), the kids all had a blast.  The weather was great and it was not crowded, so we basically got to run around outside and look at animals for a few hours.

They have a few animals in pens that you can pet and feed.  They sell the cups of animal pellets at the gate when you pay your entrance fee.  I wasn't sure if the boys would feed the animals but we got a cup anyway.  As it turns out they did feed the animals but not out of their hands, out of the cup.

Some of our favorite animals were;

the giraffe, although John thought he looked lonely being the only giraffe in the whole zoo

the zebras, this guy kept turning his back on me.  The boys kept saying 'where's Alex and Gloria?' and then cracking up, like they were hilarious.  Anyone else know that movie?

This little bobcat was cute!  And we got to see the zookeeper feed her.  The keeper was serious about his job, told us lots of interesting facts and patiently answered our 8,000 questions.

This zoo has peacocks who roam around the grounds.  They are such beautiful birds!  We did not see any with it's tail feathers displayed but we saw plenty in trees and other places.

This guy was one of the first animals we saw when we got to the zoo.  We saw him walk out of his little house / enclosure and start walking towards the fence.  The boys were excited because they thought he was coming to see them, I thought he was coming for some shade.  However, dude just kept walking and walking right at the fence and then right into the fence.  He bumped right into it.  Zoos always make me kind of sad.  Seeing all those animals out of their natural habitat and in cages with not much to do all day, I always imagine them wishing they could get out and go home.  And then, this old tortoise just kept walking towards the fence like today he was going to get out and just keep walking...

We also loved seeing the Black Bear and the Siberian Tiger.  However, neither one of them would cooperate for a good picture.  John said, 'too bad they have so many wires and fences in front of the bear it's hard to get his picture'.  Me on the other hand, I was happy to forgo the picture for a little extra fencing.   The kids loved the zoo and now want to go to another zoo that has a lion (or to go see Alex as Luke kept saying).

Grace enjoyed the zoo and since it was so small, I was able to let her walk around for a little while.  Although, she did kind of freak out this old couple because she kept walking up to them and staring at them.  It made me laugh because they didn't know what to make of her.  Then she started her shrieking and I put her back in her stroller.

John is making a summer scrapbook with all the photos he is taking on our summer vacation.  So far he has a few hundred.  He is really excited to print them and put them in an album.

Overall, we liked the zoo.  As I said, it is small and a little unorganized but it was the perfect size for me and the kids.  We also get to check one more thing off our summer fun list!