The St. Louis Zoo

Last Thursday we took a little trip to the St. Louis zoo...Well, not a little trip exactly. 

Several months ago, my cousin Tawny posted some incredible deals Frontier Airlines were promoting. They offered flights as low as $15 one way to St. Louis, so we were quick to snag up our tickets, planning a trip to visit our family in the Midwest. (Sidenote: This is the same deal that prompted the Tyndalls to make a trip to the East coast to visit us for a week last month.)

You might remember that over the summer Dave and I took a trip to Illinois with just Reid in tow. At that time it was just too hard to travel with all the kids and too expensive to fly everyone plus buy a ticket for an extra helper to come along as well. This trip though, my mom got to go with us and the price tag was much better. I think we all flew for the price it cost us for just one ticket back in June...And, I'll tell ya! It's a good thing we got to bring NaNa along, because juggling three kids, two strollers, multiple suitcases, everyone's backpacks, a diaper bag, three car seats, and everyone's winter coats was quite an ordeal.

Caleb was really disappointed that he missed flying on an airplane when he has to stay with NaNa on our last trip, but we kept reassuring him that he'd get his turn soon. Finally, the day arrived and he was one thrilled little boy as he watched out the window.

Hadley was pretty happy too. NaNa looks a little scared...

Nah...just kidding. She was happy to go with us. She'd never been to the Midwest to visit Dave's family with us before.

Hadley colored in her workbook for a good chunk of the flight.

We weren't sure how Reid was going to do since he was diagnosed with a double ear infection just a few days before we left, but he handled the extra pressure really well. He was much more active on this flight than last time, but that's to be expected since he is older and more mobile now. Actually, our sweet boy even drifted off to sleep finally for maybe 45 minutes towards the end of the flight and woke up with a Mohawk. 

Since we had about an hour's drive to the airport and then the flight, I thought the kids might be tired of sitting and not feel like getting right back in the car for another two and a half hour trip to Dave's parents' house immediately. Having been to St. Louis on multiple occasions, I knew that they had a great zoo there and suggested we try that for a bit to stretch our legs before hitting the road.

When we first arrived, we all bundled up because it was very cool out - one of the coldest days so far. Then, on to see the bears we went per Caleb's request. The zoo map showed them very close to the back entrance where we were parked, so I thought it was perfect since they were the main animals Caleb wanted to see, but when we got there we couldn't find any! Too cold out?

We weren't sure if the cool temps were tempting the bears to hibernate, but the next exhibit was the penguins and we knew they wouldn't be afraid of a little winter weather. Thankfully, there they were - those waddling arctic birds, out on display. To my disappointment though, the penguin house was closed for the time being (my favorite part of the zoo), but they still had several Humboldt penguins for us to enjoy outside.

This was Hadley's favorite part of our day. She repeatedly asked to go back even days later. I love penguins too, so she's a girl after her Mommy's heart.

I love how this particular exhibit is set up. You are so close that you could literally reach out and touch a penguin if it wasn't against the rules.

On our way back through, we checked the bears again hoping they were out. To our surprise, we did get a peek at one sitting right at the mouth of his den. It would have been nice to see him more clearly, but at least it was something!

Next, we checked out some birds on the pond and looked at few other outdoor animals.

Among the birds they had beautiful black swans. 

We spotted a couple peacocks on top the rocks in this area and the next thing we knew a red panda hopped out. We confused it for a fox at first, but the sign helped clarify our misconception.

Since it was a cool day, our next stop at an indoor ape exhibit was a welcome one. We started by looking at the chimps for a while until NaNa and Caleb wandered onto the gorillas.

One gorilla in particular had our eye. At first, he just set by the glass calmly, turning his back to us or rolling over on occasion, but then - out of no where! - he jumped up real quick and took off swinging around like a crazy thing. We moved our way around and watched some more, and it wasn't long until that same gorilla grabbed another rope and flung himself around - this time pounding the glass right in front of us with a big thud, startling us all. Caleb giggled with delight and I loved Dave's expression as you could tell he was just as excited as the kids, but I was feeling a bit scared if you want to know the truth. For Caleb, this was the best part of the zoo and he's still talking about it.

Chimpanzees

Caleb with the gorilla

Ignoring them

Look how big that thing was!

I really wanted to see the giraffes, but on the way, there was an indoor bird exhibit we decided to check out. The warmth of the building allured us more than the birds, but it was a pretty cool place anyway. The cages are set up with thin wire so they look like open air habitats.

The birds didn't hold our attention long though and we were off to see several other more impressive animals. From giraffes to wallabies, we got our fill. We spotted camels, zebras, kangaroos, ostriches, and more.

The giraffes were probably my favorite. I think they are just beautiful. God is so creative!

See the camels?

Caleb really wanted to see the big cats too. We got to see pumas, tigers, lions, and a jaguar in cat country.

Reid and NaNa's favorite spot was viewing the sea lions though. Since it was getting close to supper time, the nip in the air was getting to us, and Caleb was begging to head to his grandparents', we decided to head back to the car only to stumble onto these graceful creatures. Forgetting our appetites and enjoying the warmth of the underwater viewing tunnel, we stayed quite a while being entertained. Reid pointed and squealed, definitely more mesmerized there than by anything else we'd seen.They seemed to know he was watching and put on a show for him, doing flips right before our baby's eyes.

The St. Louis Zoo has always been my favorite because of the penguins, but honestly as I think about the variety of animals and how well planned out the exhibits were, I am just beyond impressed.

At the end of this particular visit, Dave and I decided this was the best trip to the zoo we'd ever taken. Though the temperature outside wasn't ideal, we think it caused the animals to be more active than they usually are on those hot summer days when we usually visit. Plus, the number of visitors was very sparse this time of year, making it easy to navigate and view all the animals clearly. The kids had such a good time, we're talking about making a trip to the National Zoo some time this spring.

Finally though, we had to leave and head to the next part of our "vacation." We stopped by Imo's, a pizza place famous to the St. Louis area, and then made our journey to Dave's parents'. All three kids fell asleep as we went, worn out from such an exciting day. But, Caleb woke up when we arrived just long enough to tell Grandpa all about the gorillas...