The zoo at last

Today Gavin went on his very first preschool field trip, which was, incidentally, his very first visit to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  Gavin has barely been able to contain his excitement for the last few weeks as we s-l-o-w-l-y counted down the days.  When May 11 finally arrived, we woke up to whistling wind, gray skies, and cold temperatures! Undeterred by the crazy weather, we bundled up and went anyway.

Here are the Littles, waiting for Gavin's preschool teacher to distribute our entrance tokens.  Brrr....

Although some of Gavin's school friends were there, we struck out on our own, since the Bartle pace of doing things is generally different than everyone else.  Our first stop was the giraffes.  They were so much fun (although they scared Lexi at first).  Even Kate laughed.

Gavin recognized this Okapi from a Go, Diego, Go! episode.

We saw monkeys and gorillas and orangutans.  We saw fish and frogs and penguins and hippos.  We saw bears and lions and wild hogs.  I'm sure there were other animals, too.  I didn't take many pictures because just keeping track of my kids was too taxing.  We flew through some exhibits and lingered in others.  Gavin and Lexi especially enjoyed the apes.

Other things also caught the kids' attention.  The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is very hilly, and as we started up one steep path, a guy stopped and asked the Littles if they wanted a lift.  They were thrilled.

Gavin and Lexi were apparently starving the entire time.  We stopped twice to eat.

I was amused when these construction trucks captured Gavin's interest.  He watched them work longer than he watched any animals at the zoo.  I love the view of Colorado Springs in the distance.

After about an hour, we had cruised through most of the zoo and the kids were tired of being polite and cooperative.  So we went home, but not before taking pictures with the pretend giraffes.

I'm trying to decide if a zoo membership is (a) worth the money, and (b) feasible for our family at this point.  The jury is still out on that, but Gavin's verdict for today's outing is a solid WIN.