Double Happiness!: Los Angeles Zoo

Today we visited the LA Zoo. It was a last minute decision but one we're really happy about because the zoo is AWESOME!

There's an impressive assortment of animals and each of them reside in a habitat that is large, interesting and immaculately maintained. Never once did I feel my usual pang of guilt about animals held captive for my viewing pleasure. On the contrary, these critters (some quite large) seemed comfortable with their surroundings and the steady flow of humans stopping by to ogle them.

The zoo is old but being updated and the trees are tall with lovely cool breezes blowing through them. Our girls enjoyed walking along the curving paths almost more than stopping to view the animals! If we lived closer, this place would be on our top 10 lists of things to do with our kids.

We took lots of pictures of the animals but most of them weren't exceptional enough to post to the blog. Any picture with the girls IS good enough so that's what I'm posting.

No fancy collages for now since I didn't think to upload the software for FotoFusion to my laptop before leaving on vacation.

This big old alligator was one of Maddy's favorite things at the zoo!

She wanted us to go back several times to look at him but insisted on being held tightly the whole time. I think she'd have wanted to stand there for hours and watch him!
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Daddy and Gwen take a little break on one of the many benches scattered about in shady spots at the zoo. Maddy was helping Mommy take the picture by standing near me and insisting that Daddy and Gwen say "cheese".

This camel was so cool his name should have been Joe! Maddy liked him too!
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We tried to get the girls to pose with Mommy by crossing their right leg over their left. Maddy was her usual (compliant) self but Gwen was more interested in observing everyone else's leg crossing than contributing her own part to the picture! :)

Look at Maddy. She seems to be wondering if we also notice that there appears to be a large pachyderm behind her.

Such a funny girl!

We saw a small commotion around the hippo exhibit and noticed that it appeared to be snack time there so I grabbed each girl by the hand and off we went.

Once there, Maddy was immediately distraught to learn that "Hippo Snack Time" didn't include her (Hippos are, apparently, not good about sharing).

Her disappointment was deepened when she learned that the hippos were enjoying two of her favorite foods: Lettuce and apples. You really would think that all this healthy eating would have an impact on your figure. Or, at least, the appearance of your teeth!

There's something pretty amazing about turning a corner and noticing a 20 foot giraffe standing right in front of you!

The girls were obviously impressed too!

The zoo is full of of lots of really old trees giving their sweet gift of cool shade on hot August days like today. The flowers contributed something to our experience today too. They were really beautiful! This one, in particular, caught my eye. I'm not sure what it is but I'd like to have some growing in my backyard!

It took four hours to get half way through the zoo so we decided that it might be a good idea to cut the tour short and make a straighter line for the parking lot. To discourage the girls from falling asleep in the stroller, we let them walk and - as they got more and more tired - their goofy play took on an entirely new level.

Here they are playing hide-and-seek with the Hider and Seeker in clear view of one another with only one cute pair of hands to "hide" them.