Blank Park Zoo

Friends of our from church invited us to the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines on Memorial Day. We went for the first time as a family last year on this weekend too, so it is becoming a tradition. Tyler was excited to see the animals and spent time with his friend Julianna, but mostly excited to ride the train at the zoo - which he talked about non-stop! Here are some of the pictures from our day at the zoo...

We checked out the new dinosaur exhibit. The kids were not so sure about the moving, growling dinosaurs but Tyler had fun tracing on with a paper & crayon.

The ostriches were really showing off and prancing around. This one was very friendly.

Feeding the giraffe was very cool!
Tyler even ate a lettuce leaf later at dinner just like the giraffe did.

I saw a few other very pregnant ladies surviving the 86 degree heat at the zoo. I was definitely ready to sit in the air conditioning when we got home!
Tyler could have sat here watching the monkeys all day if it weren't for the train whistle reminding him he still hadn't ridden the train yet. We even came home with a new stuffed monkey - he is sleeping with him as I post this.

Showing you all how he can roar like a lion...or a 2.5 year-old boy!

As soon as they popped their heads up, the prairie dog jumped down his hole!

Time out to play in the play area.

Feeding the fish

He wanted to feed the goats one piece of food at a time...then decided to try a piece for himself. We stopped to wash our hands and have a mommy approved snack break soon afterwards.

The train Tyler couldn't wait to ride.

And finally the wait was over and we were on the train.
"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, I'm ready," he said!

Here is my attempt at a self-taken family shot from the day. We saw a few more exhibits after this before going to a park for a picnic lunch, but I was too hot & tried to take any more pictures - plus the wind about blew our picnic away! It was a fun day, but mommy was the only one to take a nap on the way home this time!