Our Family Zoo!!: Columbus Zoo

We love taking fun day trips, especially when the weather is nice in the summer!! There are a lot of great places around here!!

A couple of weeks ago we headed out to the Columbus Zoo. We didn't make it there last summer, so we were really excited to go!! We were there for several hours and worked our way through about half of the zoo. It is a beautiful, flat zoo with lots of shade and we just love going there!!

Chloe thought this tiger striped foot massager was hilarious and just had to have her picture taken on it!

Just outside the polar bear exhibit! Love watching those enormous bears!!

This bear was swimming all over. She would play with the noodle and then roll over on her back. I think she enjoyed putting on the show.

Her twin sister napped on a rock, enjoying the suns rays.

At one end of the polar bear exhibit, there were pictures of several types of bears that you could stand in front of. I was amazed with how enormous some of these creatures really are!

The kids and I in front of the "polar bear". Those bears are huge!

I gave a high-five to the Giant Panda. Caleb was not too enthusiastic about the bear cutouts.

These are two Alaskan bears named Brutus and Buckeye!! They were orphaned at a young age and were brought to live at the Columbus Zoo. They put on quite a show for the spectators, wrestling with one another and batting at each other. They were so fun to watch!!

A Bald Eagle. Such a regal bird.

This is a baby flamingo. I believe this little one was around 3 weeks old in this picture. It was too young to be able to tell if it was a male or female yet. The caretaker told us that it would start to get pink feathers in a couple months. By the time this little one is a year old, it will have light pink feathers. It takes around three years before flamingos are that beautiful bright pink color.

Love all of the statues that you can sit on at the park!! Chloe loved jumping on them for pictures, but it took a little more convincing to get Caleb to hon on!

We enjoyed our lunch in the air conditioned food court. Caleb was all smiles as we waited on Joe and Chloe to bring the food to our table!!

A silly picture of me! Do I look like a tourist??

We let the kids make pressed pennies as their souvenirs! Chloe enjoyed choosing the design and turning the crank!

A spotted Leopard taking an afternoon nap.

Joe and the kids next to a Gorilla head outside the gorilla exhibit. If I recall correctly, this statue was of one of the oldest Gorillas in captivity.

A baby Gorilla and her keeper. This Gorilla was brought to the zoo after her mother and another Gorilla got into a fight after she was born. The baby was injured in the fight and actually lost the lower half of one of her legs. She was getting around okay while we were there!

A big Gorilla sticking out its tongue!

I think this animal is called an Okapi. I think it looks like a cross between a Zebra and a Donkey.

Photo opportunity!!

A Penguin swimming in the water! By the time we saw these guys it was late in the afternoon and fairly warm, so they were not overly active. I was a little disappointed they weren't more active because I just love to watch them jump and swim!