San Diego Family Vacation Day 4--San Diego Zoo

After another lovely morning walk, we headed off to the zoo today to be amongst the animals.  It was another glorious day, but I must confess to a bit of impatience with the children.  We hadn't been in at the zoo more than about 20 minutes when Blythe began asking for a treat and complaining about how hungry she was.  This less than an hour after she had finished breakfast.  There was way, way, way too much incessant whining for my taste, and I got angry.  I snapped at Blythe, I made Brandt cry, and then I told Kent and the children to sit down at a table, eat every snack I had brought for the day, and stomped off to look at animals.  Not exactly mature adult behavior, I know.  And I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that my children would take a cue from their surroundings and act like animals, but I was.  To keep it real, there was a bit of 24/7 irritation that comes from never having a break with each other.  We needed time away during our time away.

But enough of that.  On to the animals.  Once Brandt and Blythe had their snacks, they perked up and quit whining, and I did too.  The zoo is beautiful, with open enclosures (is that an oxymoron?), fun animals, and lots to see.  Although we (Kent, the children, and I) went our own way for a while, we eventually met up with everyone else and took a bus ride around the zoo which was a good way to see lots of animals in a short period of time.  We did wander more, but we knew where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see.  We had another not so swell but overpriced lunch, and were happy in the end to be out and about.

My favorite part of the zoo was the hippos.  They are so big but so graceful in the water.  The female swam in loops around the pool, always right along the window.  She would look out at us as we looked in on her.  Up close like that, you could see her eyelashes (very long), her skin (rough), and the poop she made (fibrous).

Kent's favorite part of the zoo was the big bull elephant, a huge animal with tusks so large the ends had to be trimmed because they had crossed and were impeding the elephant's ability to use his trunk.  He was a handsome specimen.  Kent, also liked the hippos, just like me.

Blythe's favorite part of the zoo was a moving sidewalk that took up from a lower part of the zoo, to an upper part.  It moved up through lots of trees and shrubbery, almost like we were climbing up through the jungle, without actually having to move our feet.  He favorite animal was the panda bear, which I will talk more about further on in this post.

Brandt's favorite part of the zoo was also the moving sidewalk.  He liked that you moved without having to move.  His favorite animal was also the panda bear.  We all really liked the panda.  Pictures to follow.

When we first walked into the zoo, a volunteer asked if we had any questions.  I asked her what we shouldn't miss and she said, "The baby gorilla."  A male gorilla was born on December 26th, and the mom and baby are often right by the viewing window.  The volunteer said, "She likes to show off her baby."  We headed that direction, and sure enough, there they were, by the window.  The baby was so little and so cute (for a gorilla).  The whole viewing area was really crowded, but we were all able to get a good look.

Not the gorillas. 

This was a mother and baby orangutan.

With the glare on the window, you can't see the baby very well,

but he's right there in his mom's arms.

The mob around the window.

This is the father silver back gorilla.

This is Brandt having a pout (a BIGTIME pout) in front of the gorilla enclosure.

If you could see my face, you would see that it looked just like Brandt's.

Neither of us was very happy at this point in the day.

Huge flora.

This leaf is probably as tall as Blythe.

On the bus ride. 

Some of us sat upstairs, where the sun shone on us,

and some of us sat down below, in the shade.

The bus tour driver was great to tell us what we were/should be seeing,

and the children were all very anxious not to miss anything.

When we came to the panda enclosure, only one panda was out on view, as the other two were behind the scenes while their habitat was being cleaned.  Bai Yun, a female, was out enjoying a fruit snack (different from fruit snacks), and unfortunately, was not showing off her best side.  The zoo worker was telling us all about the pandas, their care, the zoo's panda conservation efforts, and then Bai Yun decided to give us a really great show.  She came down off her rock perch, sat down facing us, pulled a large branch of bamboo towards herself and began ripping it apart and eating it while we all watched, raptly fascinated by how cute and cuddly she looked munching her meal.  Aaaaah!  It was amazing!  

Panda bum.

But then!

She moves!

Isn't she cute!

As the zoo keeper said, 

"Best picture you'll get all day."

Very accommodating of her.

We went into an open aviary with birds flying all around.

I loved these small, very colorful birds, collured lories, from the Fiji Islands. 

We told the kids they could select something from the gift shop before we left, and both of them had a terrible time selecting something.  Blythe initially wanted a $500 life-size stuffed tiger, but when I pointed out that it would take up her seat in the plane, she realized it might be a bit much.  In the end, Blythe selected a small stuffed polar bear.  Brandt also chose a polar bear, but his was a transformer polar bear that turned into a robot.