Reid Park Zoo 2015

 We are pretty lucky to have a zoo and I don't go as often as I might like. During spring break last week the kids and I went one cloudy morning.
Our Malaysian tigers, heck any big cat for that matter is a favorite. This guy was just chillin in the corner licking his paw. I sometimes wonder what they are thinking as they watch us.

A new attraction to our zoo has been these camel rides. The zoo has two camels and for $7 a person you get one lap around the enclosure. They have two photo op stops but otherwise its

 just a lap around. I told the kids to enjoy because it was probably the only time they were going to ride a camel.
The zoo offers to take a photo but they want $10. Thankfully I can do my own.
Poor Kelly said she felt like she was going to slide off and Wyatt was almost too afraid to climb on. Once on, they laughed most of the way around. So overall I think it was a good experience.

One of the cool sights was seeing all the peacocks around the enclosure, they were on the top of most of the log fence and walking around. I really have no idea how many peacocks our zoo actually has, but man are they gorgeous.
To try from getting bored I've taken to keeping an eye out for actions or behavior that bring boring animal shots alive.
I think the giraffes fit the bill easily, with their chewing and long tongues. This guy was looking

 me like he was saying, hey, or he was about to

 stick out his tongue at me, not sure which. The giraffes are one of the biggest, no pun intended, attractions. I love the ability to feed these guys and the line can get crazy long to do so, so usually I hang out before the feeding frenzy starts.
As we walked around I was bummed that the elephants decided to play in their other area away from the crowds. I was really hoping to get some fun shots of the baby elephant Nandi but she hightailed it with the rest of her family.

 The semi new grizzlies bears were chillin in the habitat so I couldn't get any photos of them. I really miss our old polar bear.
 As we continued along the trail we came upon the tortoise exhibit. This little dude was awesome and just seemed so interested in Wyatt, he wouldn't look away.

Usually of my least favorite trails is the South American one. I'm not totally sure why and maybe that's starting to change. Lately the sun bear, seen here is actually awake and moving

 

 around and this time he actually looked at me!
Another reason why my feelings toward the trail are changing is because the last couple of times the jaguars have actually been playful. The zoo has two sisters and they're beautiful, but for years when I would visit they just laid around. My last two or three visits the girls have been playing around and talking to each other, which makes it fun for me. That weekend the girls had a birthday and turned 19.
Sadly my pictures didn't come out well this time.
 A new attraction is the pair of lemurs. King Julian here was pretty cool. I got shots of him scratching his armpits and sniffing butts but finally, and thankfully he came toward the fence.
Gosh, I love those eyes.
This visit we went into the bird sanctuary and poor Wyatt was chased by a crazy blue bird, this guy followed him almost all the way around the path, it was hilarious.
There are some very beautiful, freaky and creative looking birds that were flying around in there

 This yellow looking guy was just too pretty not to photograph.
Who knows, maybe I will add text to the picture and put a quote on it.
I was really hoping to get some good shots of the flamingos but the whole exhibit was off limits for cleaning.
Can't wait to go back for the flamingos, they're so cool.
Overall the kids had a good time, until Chelsea walked away from me and got lost, for like 30 seconds.

 I tried to get photos of the kids and when I had them sit down on this bench, I laughed because the giraffe turned and showed us his butt.
I love each kids expression. Trying to get one good photo of these wild, crazy kids is getting harder.
But, each one is starting to understand my desire to document as they grow and change. They in turn also like to see how much they have grown and changed.

Just as we were leaving, I went over one last time to our tiger. Yup, he's sticking his tongue out at me. Not much, can't be too cheeky but I definitely got the neener neener vibe.
Well played Mr. Tiger
*Carrie*