Riverbanks Zoo

This last Saturday we got a chance to go to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia.  Alden has been asking to go to the zoo for the last month and we finally got a chance to go as a family.  I had actually gone earlier that week with some friends from the ward and then we got to go with Drew on Saturday.  We also got to meet up with a friend from Drew's mission which was a lot of fun!  Alden loved the zoo and loved having kids to run around with.  Anders enjoyed the trip, he just wished that we had let him out to walk around more on his own while we were there.

I have already realized, after being here for a week and a half, that the weather in Columbia can often get much hotter and more humid than I like but we got really lucky while we were at the zoo.  There was a storm coming in later that night but it meant that the weather was actually quite cool while we were at the zoo and the rain didn't start until we were leaving.  We had a great time at the zoo and it was nice to see an old friend!  Here are just a few pictures from our day at the zoo.

 We got to see the brand new sea lion exhibit the day after it opened.  Anders was tired when we got to the zoo so he was happy to rest in the stroller for awhile. 

 We found somewhere very familiar!  Drew and I found it funny that we traveled all the way across the country to see a couple sea lions in captivity when we can see tons in the wild all the time in California.

 The kids loved watching the sea lions swim around.

 The have a neat kangaroo exhibit that you actually get to walk through the enclosure with the kangaroos and wallabies.  They were all resting when we were there but I am excited to go back and hopefully see them jumping around.

 Sorry that the pictures are not very good (I forgot my camera and only had my phone).  These were some pretty cool monkeys.

 This is looking out at the elephant exhibit.

Alden got to ride on a little train with our friend's kids and he was so excited!

Daddy and Anders watched us go around on the train.

Then as we came off the train there was a snake in the middle of the trail that was poised ready to attack.  Drew had to get it to move out of the way with a stick.  Drew told us that this snake and a squirrel had been fighting while we were on the train.  He apparently had a great time watching them!

 The chimpanzees were fascinating while we were there.  They were swinging around and screeching really loudly the whole time we were there.  We all really enjoyed watching them!

 Alden was really happy to get a rid from Daddy later on.

 The tiger was not very active, but just resting when we first saw him.

 Alden was so excited to go on the carousel.

 They also have a giant splash pad at the zoo that we let the kids play on for awhile at the end.  Anders loved it and was not happy when it was time to leave!  He kept wanting to run back into the water again.

Our friend was nice enough to take a picture of me and prove that I was there too!

 When we left the splash pad we went to take the tram that connects the splash pad to the zoo but they told us it was broken so we had to walk down the hill back to the zoo.  We were just glad we were walking down and not up.

 The zoo was getting ready to close when we left the splash pad but we saw a couple animals on our way out.  The koala was just waking up and starting to move around a little.

 The tiger was up roaming around and Alden loved watching it for a couple minutes before we had to go.

This was the front plaza that was almost empty by the time we got back to it.  It was actually nice that the zoo was fairly empty on our way out.  We had a great time at the zoo and I am so glad that we got to spend the day there together as a family and with friends!