The weather this week had been much better, still cold, but bright and sunny so we’ve had trips to the park, lots of playing in the garden and a trip to our local zoo.
On Monday, as it was such a nice afternoon, and we’ve had so few of them, we thought we’d make the most if it and headed straight to the zoo after school. Stone Zoo is a small zoo, but the boys love it, and they have some nice enclosures and interesting animals. As much as anything, it’s a good place for the boys to run around!
First stop was the Bald Eagle, a very American start to the visit!
Next was the new black bear enclosure. This is lovely as the glass allows the bears to come really close, which the boys love!
Then came the llamas, coyote and cougar. And a stop to see what we could see through the binoculars :)
Next stop, up close and personal with a jaguar.
There were snakes and gila monsters and flamingoes (which smell awful!) and gibbons. The zoo has mainly native species, but there is the odd exception like the gibbons :)
There was of course time for running in circles.
Sadly, our trip was cut short on this occasion by a very sudden, and very unexpected, torrential downpour. We all got extremely wet. It was hilarious and despite being soaked to the skin, I think that we all laughed more after the rain started than we had for the rest of the afternoon :)
Although, by the time we got back to the car I think the 6yo had had enough!
I’m linking up with Coombe Mill’s Country Kids again this week. Click on the badge to see what everyone else has been up to.
Looks like a really nice zoo….cant believe how closely you could see some of the animals. My children all love zoos. #countrykids
It is a lovely little zoo, and the enclosures work really well for the kids. My boys love going to the zoo :) Thanks for commenting :)
That looks like a great zoo, shame about the rain but looks like you had lots of fun!
It was fun, and we were so wet so quickly all we could really do was laugh about it :)
such a shame it rained! i like the photo of the jaguar it looks very majestic. cant beat a trip to the zoo we love going x
It’s great – the boys love it. It was a shame it rained, but the boys thought that was fun too! Thanks for commenting :)
What fantastic shots, it looks like you had a lot of fun! We’re off to our local Zoo at the end of the month, can’t wait!
Thank you! It was a great afternoon – including the rain really – we just embraced getting well and truly soaked!
Wow! The enclosures are amazing, it is so much better to have glass so even small children can see the animals, instead of having to life them up all the time! It also meant you got some fantastic pics. Popping over from Coombe Mill’s Country Kids Linky x
Yeah, the glass enclosures are fantastic – so much better for the wee ones – and the big ones too actually! Thanks for commenting :)
What a fab zoo, such a good idea to have so many glass partitions which enable the children to safely get up close to the animals. You all looked like you had a great day out, such a shame it had a wet ending though. Thank you for linking up to Country Kids.
A lot of the enclosure really are very good – the boys get a lot out of it. And the rain – well you hit a point where you’re so wet that you may as well just enjoy it – it was fun watching the boys :)
Great for a small Zoo! So many animals to see!
It’s a surprisingly good collection actually – we didn’t make it up to the snow leopard and the wolves this time – a bit too wet by then :)
Wow you can get up close to the animals! Oh, I see now what you meant in your earlier post about the torrential rain. Bless them, they look soaked. We had exactly the same happen to us on a trip to our local zoo a few years ago. Never seen rain like it :D
It’s great – the bears are the best! The rain was unbelievable, so heavy :) Thanks for commenting!
wow i cant believe how close you get to the animals there!! although the pics were funny of the rain i do hope you all got dry quickly x
We all changed into our PJs when we got home :)
such great photos love the leopard, the rain sure came down fast didn’t it! great rain photos tho and so funny!
Thanks – the 6yo thought it was great fun and was dancing around – he insisted on taking his coat off ‘to make the most of it’! Thanks for commenting :)
What gorgeous photos of your children enjoying Stone Zoo, despite the weather! It’s fun running in the rain in a t-shirt – and very brave!
Thank you – and it was a lot of fun :) Thanks for popping by and commenting!
So close to the animals – pretty good. Shame the rain hit, but at least it was still a good day.
It was a lovely afternoon, despite the rain :) Thanks for commenting!
ah looks like they had a lovely time. love the puddle jumping!
The puddle jumping was fab!
Fantastic pictures, I love how close they got to the animals. Isn’t the Jaguar awesome. We love the zoo and usually go at the beginning of April for our daughters birthday, but ours had to close because it’s up in the mountains and was snow bound. Hopefully we will get over the next couple of weeks
The jaguar was indeed awesome – the boys were fascinated. Hope you guys make it to the zoo soon :)
Wow! That jaguar looked so calm in that picture, like a big kitty. :-) Looks like you made the most of the rainy afternoon by having a good laugh. That always makes thing better.
It was amazing, it wasn’t phased by us at all! Thanks for commenting :)
Lovely to see how different the zoo over there is! I really like the pics of your lad in the green t-shirt getting sodden! :D
Thanks – I was so pleased to capture that moment – the photos really make me smile!