What can I say, we seem to gravitate to the Como Zoo in Minnesota. And what is better than enjoying the zoo on a day where it is NOT packed and not more than mildly chilly? Why going with new homeschool friends! Nathan, Drew and Bella are so much fun. With their mom and Ken and myself we had 8 kids, no crowds, and all the time in the world. They are new to the state so it was fun to take them around and show them our favourite parts… talk about future get togethers and explorations… just generally get to know each other better. 

It is such a gift to get to know some homeschool families that are local. This is the second such family that we are getting to know and love. It is wonderful to have moments where the questions are different, the experiences are common and the laughter about personal stories is shared with an understanding that they have been there too! 

As it was the end of April when we went to the zoo it was still a breezy spring day, so many of the animals were relegated to their indoor housing. I cannot count how many times we walked into one and the kids remarked on the smell… it is funny how you see how they almost believe the animals should smell like flowers and potpourri instead of animal and musk.

Gavin took this one in case you were wondering what he was certain was the issue in the giraffe enclosure!

We were able to take our time at each location and talk about things, speak with the interpreters, take pictures. It was relaxing to not have to hold the kids back but let them run and explore within a greater visual area. 

But enough about all that… time for just a wild series of enjoyable images!!! Make sure you scroll to the end. After my favourites are the best of Gavin’s… unedited!!!!

Just the girls

Starfish

PENGUINS! Emanuel demands extra time each trip to visit his all time favourite animal.

Polar Bears! There were two in the enclosure. They were just hanging out, wandering. Somehow I think the weather was somewhat warm to them, possibly quite pleasant.

Spot the snow leopard.

This female tiger is on loan from the Minnesota Zoo for breeding… she was pacing a little… we were wondering if it was man troubles… I could just see her grumbling under breath – stupid tiger thinking I would just clean his fur and be all in love.. wine me, dine me man.

Arctic Foxes look like toys, Echo and Nathan were in love.

Gorgeous bonsai

Monkey House

Such a stately gorilla.

I wish I had taken video of this little guy… he was adorable.

This was the best Ken could do with the wolf… but dang super close!

And now, Gavin’s photo efforts!

Sleepy cat

Ostrich!

This duck was a kid favourite and not even one of the exhibitions.

Sloth… Butt???

And a picture of me taking a picture of something.

Our newest dinosaur is a slightly famous one… it was shown on Jurassic Park (though I am warning you – scientists are NOT at all sure they ran in herds…). This late Cretaceous dinosaur was found in the plains of Asia. With it’s long stiff tail, tiny front limbs and beak like mouth it is not a huge surprise that this dinosaur has been compared to a bird. We have two videos about this little meat, plant AND insect eater! First… I’m a Dinosaur.

And the other, the clip from Jurassic Park (the movie) that included this dinosaur running in a herd formation (again not something scientists can prove).

This is the largest “ostrich dinosaur” found to date with its very birdlike looks. It was a runner and definitely built for speed. You can find a great little blurb about that on Rareresource.com HERE. There is a map and a nice article on Age of Dinosaurs HERE. Of course the Jurassic Park page has their information and a still from the movie HERE. Kidsdinos.com has their usual page of information and graphs HERE. DinoDictionary.com has a great size comparison to a human HERE. Dinosaurs.about.com has a great image from the London Natural History Museum (though small) HERE. Melborne Museum has a great artist’s rendition of the dinosaur HERE. HERE is the EnchantedLearning article and the picture Emanuel coloured is HERE (same site). And as always, the Wiki article is HERE.

The birdlike dinosaur

July 15

What is the best way to have one last bash with good friends before everything changes? Well… if you have kids a trip to the best zoo in the province is definitely a way to go! And, on top of that, allowed us to use up our zoo bucks (a Christmas gift from Kathy and the only way we would have been able to make it to this particular zoo). We even convinced Esther to join us in the fun!

Waiting on the rest of our group

So after we made it into the zoo itself and the Bleau family caught up with us it was time to see the newest attraction at the zoo (and one you would remember from the LAST time I went to this zoo with just Kathy and the girls)… the penguins! This time the line up was short so we went INTO the exhibit where you get us really close to all the penguins they have. It was noisy and splashy and the kids LOVED IT! 

My big kids

Close up and personal

Out from behind the camera… it was not an overly warm day which was PERFECT for zoo visiting.

Don’t forget the peacock who was right at the front entrance… on the way back he was showing off ALL his tail feathers… so we got the best display ever!

Checking out his reflection

Purty

Even with 5 adults it was a bit like herding kittens but we managed quite nicely. With so many little and not so little boys we HAD TO run through the new dinosaur exhibit. So much excitement running here and there with Darryl at the front of the pack egging them on! 

What a group!

Echo with a favourite aunty

Strike a pose

The leader of the pack

That left Sharon, Esther, Echo and myself to bring up the rear. With the aunties more than willing to walk the baby. Note that miss Echo went through MULTIPLE costume changes during our 3 hours at the zoo… for some reason zoo and walking and all that means pee through ALL your clothes!

Miss Esther

After dinosaurs it was time to see more animals. And a variety of those there was to see!!!

Zebra

Emanuel was amazed that there were so many types of animals in the “same box”

Gorilla

Add in a bathroom break in the African exhibit.

VERY necessary

And a play break at the playground…

Birdies at the park and super close

With her god mommy

Baby and the Beasts

We managed to visit my favourite exhibit – the butterfly one. And with less kids in the zoo it was MUCH calmer which meant better pictures of butterflies at rest! I will share more of my favourites in a separate entry. 

A 5 day old moth

So many on one bush!

After the butterflies it was time for Emanuel’s most requested ELEPHANTS!

Emanuel and his super special pose

We took a photo together here our last trip to this zoo together… when Emanuel was less than a year old!!!

Riding the stone elephants

And then after a few wrong turns… the baby tiger was out for show! 

Baby tiger AWWW

With the tigers our crew was done in and it was time to head back home. Of course with a stop off half way to see Karyn, collect passports (yup EARLY) and have lunch at Quiznos. YUM!

We took up 3 tables!

Hungry and tired

Definitely a day to remember. And I have the souvenir penguin to add to all of that! I am so glad that I got the chance to take our kids there and with such good friends too boot!

Siblings of the heart