Labor Day Visit to the Toledo Zoo

What can we say? We love going to the zoo! We're hoping to go as much as we can while the kids are still young and excited about going. That's why I renewed our annual pass a few months ago. We do have a zoo in Detroit but we like the Toledo Zoo (in Ohio) a great deal more, and both are about the same distance from our house. Toledo is just south of the Ohio/Michigan border so it's not far---about a 45 minute drive. So when Alexander (He told us to call him "Alexander" now---Not "Alex" anymore) requested a family visit to the zoo once more before going back to school, we decided to go on Labor Day, the day before school started. Josh had a Labor Day off so we were excited to have him come with us. The last time we went to the Toledo zoo was on Memorial Day with friends. (See our blog archive in May.)

We had a fun and relaxing day! It was hot, about 88 degrees, and we were very sweaty but I loved it, mostly because I know this weather wouldn't be around much longer. Joshua doesn't have the same opinion as me. He doesn't like it when it's hot outside. Anyway, here are some pictures of our day at the zoo ---

Alex loved the wolves

The boys heard the sound of a rattlesnake under the woodsticks. Lift if you dare, Logan!

Daddy and Jessica playing a drum in "Africa"

A giraffe family

A hippo swam past us in the "Hippoquarium"

Mom (Renee) and baby elephant calf (Louie). We learned that his Dad was sent up from Disney's Animal Kingdom to breed with his Mom.

Daddy is not as tall as an adult female elephant but Alex is almost as tall as a baby elephant.

We loved watching the meerkats run around -- One of our favorite exhibits!

My three little butterflies

Inside the "Butterfly Conservatory" we saw hundreds of butterflies!

One even landed on Mommy, and then stayed on my leg for a good 10 minutes before fluttering off.

We arrived at the gorilla house as they were eating dinner. We got a really close-up view!

Is Alex's armspan as big as a gorilla's?

The sloth bear looked like it was smiling at us

Jessica sitting next to a bird statue

Taking an elephant ride.
I took a picture of Spencer and Jessica on this statue the very first time we came to the Toledo Zoo in June 2000, just after moving to Michigan (see below).

Spencer was 4 and Jessica was 2