Jane Goodall was at the zoo Saturday when we went. Below is the best picture I could get of her as it was a) crowded b) raining and c) you were not allowed to use your flash.
It was not forecast to rain and it looked to be a nice day when we left the house, but when we arrived in Memphis the rain started. Luckily it was not a very heavy rain and we bought these ponchos in the gift shop as we had not thought to bring rain gear. They only came in two sizes: child and adult and so we had to put the kids' sun hats on them to keep their heads from getting soaked as the hood on the ponchos did not want to stay up. It quit raining by around noon and was nice and bright after that. Saturday was also James' birthday (he is now 27) and so we went by his sister's house after the zoo (she and his parents went to the zoo with us as well) and had grilled hotdogs, hamburgers and birthday cake. Mari ate half of the meat and cheese portion of a hamburger. She still is very picky about vegetables though (the COMPLETE opposite of Jake).
I wore a poncho too, but had just taken it off and was about to take the kids off of them. I handed James the camera so I could take the ponch off better and he got some pictures of me and the kids. We never all seem to look in the same direction with decent smiles on our faces.
I thought this picture of the polar bear feet was cute.
Jake posing for a picture and below, the polar bear would swim right up to Mari (well through the class) and she was very impressed with it. We were the only ones in the exhibit at that time and it would splash right by her as if it were playing games with her!
They didn't sit still long enough to get a good shot.
We went back in the sea lion and polar bear exhibit to wait on Aunt Cheri (James' sister) who had just called to say she was at the zoo.
As we dressed for warm weather and Mari can't stand the slightest chill, Cheri shared her lined rain coat with Mari (plus Mari had started eating the yellow poncho at this point).
Above are Jake and Cheri looking at the hippopotamuses and below are Ann (James' mom) and James holding Mari so she can see the large Koi fish in the chinese exhibit (near the pandas).
Mari was really excited about the fish and kept pointing and saying there and then jabbering on and on about them.
Above are Mari and I watching the hippopotamuses.
Above Mari is making barking noises at the otters and James is mimicking her in encouragement. Below, Jake wanted to hold Mari's hand so he, Mari, Ann and James formed a line.
This year Mari was old enough to ride the merry go round as well, which meant James and his dad Larry got to chaperone.
After the rain, Mari insisted on walking for most of the trip (until she fell asleep).
Jake was very excited about riding the train!
It was a great trip overall, and we will have to do it many times this next year now that Mari is old enough to enjoy it as well.
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