BOO! at the Zoo

Friday afternoon, we met the Mullins, Chris, and his friend, Emily, at the zoo. If you would like to have the animals all to yourself, try going late in the afternoon on a cold October day. Worked like a charm! We probably saw no more than 20 other people in the whole place. Thank goodness that my sweet friend, Jessica, had given Helen Grace this adorable (and warm!) fuzzy hat and mittens that afternoon. It was very breezy on Friday (brrr!), but HG stayed warm and loved being carried around the zoo like a big girl. I just can’t get enough of this little hat- love it! We enjoyed our day with good friends!

Modeling her new hat and mittens Laughing at her daddy The new exhibit, Teton Trek…awesome!! Took John and I right back to Yellowstone- I wanna go back! Uncle CB and ThomasYou can walk all the way around the  animals- the boardwalk goes up and over so you can look down into the animal areas. We saw wolves, swans, and a grizzly bear. Not sure where the elk were- maybe they were hiding, although it’d be pretty hard to hide those antlers. They’ve built a replica of the Old Faithful Inn, which has a great space inside, complete with a toasty fireplace! This is the view from the waterfall at the back of the exhibit.

You could get so close to the grizzle! After staying 100 yards away in Yellowstone, I was freaking out to be this close! He has a great river and waterfall that he can play in, and they even have an underwater viewing area so that you can see him when he’s swimming (kind of like the polar bear area). Very cool! She loved the grizzly too! We got a great polar bear picture this time. They were seriously fighting- a little scary!She had had enough of the walking around. Time for a nap!The elephant was posing for us. The panda bear was watching the zookeepers clean the cage next door, and apparently, it was close to his dinnertime. He was MAD that he wasn’t getting fed. He was standing up on his back legs and pounding on the gate! FEED ME!We had a great time at the zoo! As we were scooting out of the zoo, the line was forming for Zoo Boo. They had the zoo decorated so well for Halloween, and I’m looking forward to taking Helen Grace to Zoo Boo next year when she’s big enough to run around and play. Best Buddies:  Helen Grace (with her ‘stone face’ on) and Thomas (with his ‘silly face’ on)