Our First Trip to the Zoo

Believe it or not, we have never taken our kids to the zoo before.  Ever.  But let me tell you, they were primed for this experience!  Serena in particular.

The NEW Zoo is fairly small, but really just a great size for our crew!  Serena declared that giraffes were her "best" (favorite), and the zoo had giraffes, so everything was perfect!  ;)  Being north of Green Bay, and on the morning of a day we were expecting a decent winter storm, it was a bit chilly (30 degrees and started snowing as we were walking out of the zoo!); but we had everyone bundled up well and took advantage of the fireplace in the cafe about half-way through.  Serena and Bret thought it was great fun to wear THREE shirts and TWO pants, PLUS coats, hats, and boots!  ;)  Cody was not quite as thrilled, but he was a trooper (or maybe I was the trooper as I had to ditch the stroller and lug him around for a while, haha!).  

There was a great little petting zoo, with very friendly (hungry?) animals who were pretty excited about the treats we had to offer!  ;)  

The sheep and goats really knew the drill...they were all pushing their noses through the slats of the fence in an effort to get a treat!  The lady at the check-in had warned us to keep the bag of food out of the animals' reach as they would grab it if given the chance!  I'm certain that they would, too; they definitely knew what was in that little bag!

He's been called a dog whisperer; how about "goat whisperer"?

Bret was having a good time

This alpaca (I think that's what it was?) was so sweet and friendly.  I just loved her big brown cow-eyes!

Serena with "her best" - the giraffes!  This picture just cracks me up on so many levels!  The enormous giraffes posing in tandem, Serena's extremely happy face, the hat and hoodie combination....  Oh my!

I think it was all she dreamed it would be!

She was seriously just soaking up every little aspect of this morning!  Look at that smile!

The lions were particularly accommodating...even letting out several ferocious roars!!

Coons...Serena had them mixed up with skunks and kept saying how glad she was that they weren't stinky, haha!  Of course, I do remember a particularly stinky coon experience that happened in our garage growing up, so I guess I was glad these ones weren't stinky too!  ;)

Can you tell she was just having an awesome, awesome time?!

Bald eagle under a heating lamp!  Poor guy!  There were lots of heating lamps around, and the animals were definitely taking advantage of them!

Seriously, this trip to the zoo, though a bit chilly, could not have been better!  We all enjoyed it, but Serena was just on Cloud Nine, which made it so fun!  She just thrilled at the sight of all these different animals and was simply the happiest girl alive!  We'll definitely be going back...when it's warmer, haha!