Elmwood Park Zoo

On Saturday, Chloe and I picked up Miss Stella and Darius (one of Chloe's original friends from her old school) to head off to the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown. I wasn't sure how we would fare with 2 kids in the backseat, but minor toy skirmishes aside ("we share our toys"), all was well. Good practice for the Chloster who will no longer have anything to herself come December. LOL

Doesn't she look cute in her hat? That lasted 5 minutes.

Although she was a fan of pony rides last year, Chloe was entirely unsure about them this weekend. She made it around once with Willy and then made it clear that it was time to move on to the next attraction.

The Butterfly Garden! Whenever Chloe and I go anywhere that has a butterfly garden, we are inevitably there at the wrong season. So, I was really psyched that this one was open. When we got inside, Chloe kept looking around and saying, "Pretty!"

Of course, then she spotted a fountain, so she kept saying, "Watey!"

I love this picture. It's like they're saying, "How did we get here?"

None of the pictures I took of this elk really capture how cool-looking and majestic it was... although it was eyeing up that other elk. You know, the one without the fancy headwear. The female. From behind. Miss Stella and I exchanged a knowing glance and quickly steered the strollers in the opposite direction of possible elk-love.

These little guys were the collective favorite. The zoo has a really cool prairie dog area. This one was eyeing up Miss Stella like he wanted to jump her and she said, "Thanks God, he doesn't have wings!"

This is not an ostrich. It was called a reba or something. I can't remember. I hate birds. (Except penguins.) I only took a picture of this one because Chloe thought it was so funny. After this, we came upon the aviary. Which we did not go into because birds cannot be trusted.

Evidence of a well-spent morning.

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Overall thoughts: 8 thumbs up to the Elmwood Park Zoo - lots of shade, great animals, a cool playground, cheap hotdogs and you are close enough to the animals that you can really get a good look (you should have seen the look on Chlo's face when the goat jumped up and put his front legs on the gate in front of her). Only downside: birds allowed to roam-free and terrorize. But, since I was the only one troubled by this, it's a fairly minor point.