Wild Animal Park

The last weekend before school started we decided to take the kids to the Wild Animal Park. Caleb has been asking to go and since he was starting school the following week we felt like it was now or never. He was so excited to go and was non stop talking about the animals he was planning to see there.

When we got there the first thing we did was walk through the African Aviary where various exotic birds flew around our heads and even walked next to us on the ground. Caleb immediately went to the information guide to see what the names of the birds were so he could point them out and read up on some interesting facts as well. He was so good at spotting them and calling them out by name as we walked through.

Upon exiting the aviary we came across a Lagoon that was filled with waterfalls, bridges, luscious gardens, flamingos, ducks, pelicans, and more exotic birds swimming, flying and jumping around. Caleb was in heaven and immediately ran to the edge to look in the water to see them all. Again he started shouting out the names of the birds and pointing to them as he stated facts about them. Such a little zoologist.

After the lagoon we headed up to Condor Ridge and the Tiger Trail. Caleb decided to be adventurous and take a trail that seemed to be challenging. I of course followed him and was thrilled to come upon a Tiger playing in his pool of water. Caleb was excited until he saw bees flying around in a nearby bush. He was more focused on avoiding the bees than the beautiful tiger. Quickly he rushed past and we moved on to see the Bird show. The show was so cool with birds flying over our heads and performing tricks right up front. Caleb saw birds he never seen before and couldn't contain himself when they would fly right in front of his face arms length. He said it was his favorite show.

After the show we headed to the tram ride that takes you into the heart of Africa. We saw giraffes, rhinoceros's, gazelle, and wild hog walking around in their natural habitat which was gorgeous and huge. The tram ride lasted 30 minutes and Caleb kept saying how he wished he could take a behind the scenes tour and get closer to the animals to feed and touch them. He has no fear apparently which is awesome. After the tram ride we saw the cheetah run, gorillas, bats, and more exotic birds. Caleb did not want to leave but our time had come to say goodbye. He couldn't get enough of the animals and facts they had displayed for each one. He loves to study animals and highly enjoyed observing them in their natural habitats. The Wild Animal park is good about having natural settings and not so much of the tiny spaces or cages that other animal places have. He claims to favor the Wild Animal Park more than the zoo and so we promised to bring him back to check out the things that we didn't have time for. Until next time!

Arizona

This past weekend Caleb went on a trip to Arizona with his step-mom to help a friend move. He has been talking about this trip for the longest and was super excited to see scorpions, birds, and other Arizona animals that he researched. Of course the first thing he sees when he gets there is a scorpion!

Can't imagine what I would do if I saw that outside but Caleb is brave and loves finding things like that. He wanted to hold it but of course that wasn't going to happen. He spent the few days there swimming with his friend who they were helping move and exploring through the desert looking for animals and insects. More and more he is proving to be a little Jeff Corwin and can't imagine him becoming anything else when he gets older. He loves to travel and explore looking for things no one else would dare to see or think about seeing. Such a brave, intelligent, and amazing young man!

Night Time Zoo

Recently I took the kids to the night time zoo as we had a few hours to spare and Caleb has been asking to go. When I told him we were going he was so excited he couldn't contain himself. As soon as we got there he immediately started talking about all the animals we were going to see and started naming facts about them. Overwhelmed with the endless options and paths to choose from we decided to go to the right where the koalas were since we didn't get to see them the last time we were there. We stopped off at some birds and Caleb excitedly started shouting out names of birds he recognized and reading the facts about each and every one. We ventured towards the koalas and heard them snorting around which made us laugh and then headed to the rhinos, giraffes, and wart hogs. Caleb ran off by himself to read up on each and every animal and study them a bit closer.

We saw bears, pandas, monkeys, kangaroos, hippos, birds, koalas, giraffes, rhinos, wart hogs, flamingos, and reptiles. Caleb even made friends with a quail looking bird and they were talking back and forth to eachother. It was very cute. He has a passion for birds and I'm pretty sure the quail bird knew that because he was chirping up a storm with Caleb.

Towards the end I let Caleb read up on some books in the gift shop until the night time parade started. He loves researching facts about animals. The parade was amazing and Caleb got to sit right in front where the people and animals came up to him. We were so excited and so happy. Caleb didn't want to leave but the zoo was closing. He was disappointed that he didn't get to see the bugs in the bug house because it was closed but there is always next time! Overall, it was a great and memorable night at the zoo!