The San Antonio Zoo

Today was the first day of the annual American Dental Association (ADA) Meeting in San Antonio. Amen to them for picking San Antonio this year because Tom got 2 extra days off so that he could attend. He went this morning and then came home in time for us to go pick up Shelby and head to the zoo. Shelby had to go potty (she always does right after school), so while she and I headed to the bathroom, Tom took the other kids over to this statue. I think it's such a cute shot of Taylor, and the picture of Payden is a perfect shot of something we had to deal with the ENTIRE trip to the zoo - that water bottle. She HAD to carry it everywhere. We tried to get her to put it in the cup holder on the stroller, but she refused. She'd set it on the ground to look at an animal, would forgot to get it, and then run back yelling about her water bottle. In all honesty, it got a little annoying, but nothing we could do would get her to let us or anything else hold it for her. Now we know - DON'T take the water bottle out until we absolutely need it.

Shelby and I finally joined up, so we headed out. The girls were sooooooo excited that the first thing we saw were macaws. They LOVE macaws thanks to Go, Diego, Go and the toy Squawky Macaw.

We came upon a bridged area where strollers couldn't go. Tom took the girls while I waited with Declan. Eventually I decided that there must be more to it because they hadn't returned. I walked down quite aways and finally found a path that took me down in the area. It certainly would have been nice if they had pointed out a direction for stroller access, but I guess maybe we should have picked up a map. Anyways, while I was away from them, they came across a capybara eating broccoli, which the girls thought was so cool (I'm guessing because broccoli is one of their favorite veggies).

When we finally met up, I had them follow me to the frog exhibit. It was really cool. The first thing is some kind of frog, but I couldn't really figure it out. It looked really oddly shaped. (For some reason blogger turned the picture on it's side.)

The bright colored ones area always fun to see.

Okay, first I have no idea how it's sleeping on this leaf without slipping off, and the skin on these ones looked really, really plasticy; they were really funky looking.

This one was ENORMOUS. You can't really tell in the picture, but it was HUGE.

We enjoyed the salamander in this one as well as spotting of the frogs. They were really hard to see, so it took a long, long time to find each one. It was kind of fun to look in each tank because it was like playing I Spy. It really kept the girls interest.

I think this one was a newt.

After leaving the frog house, we finally found a map to see where we wanted to go.

We spotted this on our way.

I'm quite proud of this picture. I don't normally take good shots, but this one isn't half bad.

We always see this bird, but it is still interesting each and every time.

Of course, the flamingos are always a favorite.

The girls were really excited to see this bald eagle because they'd seen one in a nest at the zoo in the Seattle. They really are magnificient creatures.

Payden wanted me to hold her, so I pulled out the sling to put her in. She LOVES doing this and asks me to put her in it every time I pull out to put Declan in. She was so excited. She got really, really nervous when I let go of her though, so it took awhile, but I finally convinced it'd be okay if I didn't hold her and she didn't hold me. At first she was totally scared, but I finally got her to relax, a little.

The whole time Shelby kept asking to go the Butterfly House. It cost extra to go in there, so we didn't really want to do it. She was a little disappointed, but decided it would be okay if we didn't go. I think she was envisioning it to be like the Butterfly House in the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, but I don't think it's quite that cool. Anyways, we at least let them to take pictures as butterflies.

Across from the Butterfly House was an indoor exhibit filled with lots and lots of water animals. Tom LOVES lionfish, so we had to take a few pictures of them.

Payden kept pretending to be this pathetic little baby and would sit there and whimper while I held her in the sling. It was funny. The only bad thing about the whole sling thing is she would occasionally want to get out to do something with Taylor and Shelby and then wanted to immediately come back in. Unfortunately it wasn't very easy getting her in and out, but since Declan normally gets this one-on-one time with Mom, I decided and oblige her so that she could get her one-on-one time with Mom.

In one of the tanks was the turtle. It looks soooo ancient, like it's straight out of the dinosaur era.

In another tank was this cool fish with dragon like scales.

On our way out we passed by the komodo dragon exhibit and had to go sit on this statue.

Then Tom had them go stand by this statue we passed.

It was another great day at the zoo. What's amazing is we've been twice, seeing completely different things both times, and still I feel like we've so much more to see. Fortunately with it cooling down for fall, it'll be perfect weather for going to the zoo.