A few weeks back we were blessed with a visit from Nate's mom Carla for an entire week. The girls were extremely excited and had a whole list of things they wanted to do with Grandma. Although we didn't get to cross everything off, we did have
a lot of fun and as usual she was a great help to us around the house. One of the main attractions was a trip to the zoo. I hadn't been to the Portland zoo in over 10 years and the girls are old enough now to really enjoy it so off we went.
We were fortunate that the weather was great, you never know what you are going to get in the fall here in Oregon but it was sunny and warm and the animals seemed to appreciate it too because almost everyone was out enjoying themselves in the sun which to us meant perfect viewing. Even better we went on a week day so there were no lines at all and the kids got to get up close and personal, more often then they liked. This mountain goat had no problem with an audience while he ate his lunch.
We of
coarse had to stop and get an elephant ear. Taylor especially liked that.
Jade and this
orangutan had a staring contest. I'm pretty sure the monkey won because Jade was a little uneasy about the whole thing.
This was her stiff competition.
The girls loved watching the penguins swim and had to preform their happy feet dance.
The sea lions put on quite a show swimming circles.
This leopard is highly endangered which was sad to read about.
The crocodile was very friendly, a little too much for the kids taste. They wouldn't get near him for the picture.
The zebras were my favorite!
And you have to love the hippos doing what they do best!
The most favorite attraction was the elephants. They really are enormous.
Just outside the elephants there was a little park of animal statues. This was Jade's favorite.
But the hippo had room for two!
This is the zoo's latest baby elephant who is a right around a year old now, I think.
All in all we couldn't have asked for a better day at the zoo!
We were fortunate that the weather was great, you never know what you are going to get in the fall here in Oregon but it was sunny and warm and the animals seemed to appreciate it too because almost everyone was out enjoying themselves in the sun which to us meant perfect viewing. Even better we went on a week day so there were no lines at all and the kids got to get up close and personal, more often then they liked. This mountain goat had no problem with an audience while he ate his lunch.
We of coarse had to stop and get an elephant ear. Taylor especially liked that. 
Jade and this orangutan had a staring contest. I'm pretty sure the monkey won because Jade was a little uneasy about the whole thing.
This was her stiff competition.
The girls loved watching the penguins swim and had to preform their happy feet dance.
The sea lions put on quite a show swimming circles.
This leopard is highly endangered which was sad to read about. 
The crocodile was very friendly, a little too much for the kids taste. They wouldn't get near him for the picture.
The zebras were my favorite!
And you have to love the hippos doing what they do best!
The most favorite attraction was the elephants. They really are enormous.
This is the zoo's latest baby elephant who is a right around a year old now, I think. 
All in all we couldn't have asked for a better day at the zoo! 
