Zoo Day

Today we went to the Kansas City Zoo for the first time ever. Our realtor, Brad Papa, had a customer appreciation event there that offered free admission and lunch. We were excited to go and see how it was. We started with the Polar Bears, which were really great. They swam very close to the glass so you could see how big they are and get a good view.

Then we decided to go check out the elephants because who doesn't love elephants.

Clara and Joshua took a brief climbing break, but then we were there. This was another great exhibit because the elephants happened to be standing (well maybe not happened. I think it's where the food was) in a really great spot for viewing so we were really close. So close we hoped that the fencing was really strong. It was amazing to see them and hear their little elephant noises (not trumpeting, more like little communicating noises).

Next we walked over to the "Africa" area. This was a pretty long walk and really not too worth it. The cheetahs were in an area of their exhibit where they couldn't be viewed as were the gorillas. We did see some small monkeys that the kids were pretty excited about as well as some other grazing animals, but this is the part of our trip where you see why people aren't that enamored with our local zoo (they usually say the exhibits are super far apart and you can't see many animals, which was exactly our experience). One fun thing we did get to do was walk across this suspension bridge where you can feel it sway. Because I am becoming old, I felt a little dizzy, but Joshua was totally excited to walk on it.

After that, we walked back towards the polar bears to enjoy the provided lunch. And I do mean enjoy. I was pleased because I am kind of a picky eater and normally do not enjoy these types of meals, but this was really pretty good. Since we had referred the Fouts family to Brad when they were buying their house, they also were at the event and we all ate lunch together with an excellent view of the polar bears.

After lunch, we knew we wouldn't have a ton of time before the kids were too worn out, but we wanted to see a few more things. We went to the new penguin exhibit first. That had a lot to see, plus it was nice and air conditioned. It was super crowded in the penguin area and I would like to go again not on a summer weekend and be able to spend more time and have more space.

Next we went to the children's area. That was decent. We fed some deer and played on various slides and climbed on some play equipment and saw some animals. We could have definitely spent some more time there, but the kids were getting tired so we really needed to go.

On our way out, Joshua really wanted to ride the carousel so everyone got on. I rode on the bench with Hannah and Jason stood with Joshua and Clara to make sure they didn't fall off. Joshua got to ride on a K-State horse, which I think Jason was pretty happy about. They all seemed to like the carousel and we definitely ended our zoo trip on a positive note. We had a great time and were so appreciative to Brad that we got to experience it for free.