San Diego Zoo

We concluded our San Diego vacation at the zoo. It was a fun day that wasn't too busy. We actually took this picture when we got there rather than when we left.

You know it had been a busy week when Ally was tired on the bus tour we took when we first got there. I guess it could also be due to the fact that she didn't sleep that well in the port-a-crib. We lucked out and the tickets we bought online included bus service (tour bus and express buses around the zoo) and skyfari rides, which is the sky ride you can take to the top of the zoo. We found out later that it saved us $45 by having that included and we didn't even realize that we had those services until we got there.
The glare off the glass is pretty bad in this picture, but we couldn't get the flash to shut off. The kids were mesmerized watching these boa constrictors each eat a large rat. It's not often you get to see them get fed. I thought it was kind of gross, but the kids loved it. It was shocking to see how it could swallow the huge rat that was much bigger than its head. I must admit that I didn't care to watch as long as the kids did.
Ally's favorite part of the zoo was the children's petting zoo. She absolutely loved being out of her stroller and able to walk around pointing to and sometimes petting the goats.

She thought the bunnies were cute even though she didn't have arms long enough to reach them.
All the kids enjoyed getting up close and personal with the animals.


I know that this isn't the best picture, but I thought the baby gorilla was so cute. My batteries gave up right after this picture and I'd forgotten to recharge the ones in the diaper bag, so I had to go buy some after we'd seen the Gorillas. Right after this picture, the mom and baby gorilla went away from the glass and were right in front of us. I could have gotten some really cute pictures without so much glare, but what can you do?
Ally's 2nd favorite part of the day was lunch. She decided to make her own fun with it. Can you tell what she had for lunch? Surprisingly, she ate far more macaroni and cheese than is left on her face. In fact she probably ate more than the other 3 kids combined! They prefer the cheap Kraft Mac-N-Cheese to this homemade kind.
By the end of the day and vacation, we all felt as tired as this Sun Bear.
We took the skyfari up to see the Polar Bears.
This guy was sleeping like the other bear when we got there, but then he started swimming around for us. We loved watching him swim around and play!
We had a great San Diego vacation! Next time we go, we won't have a baby anymore and Bryson will be tall enough to ride ALL the rides he wants to, so we look forward to even more fun in the future!