Trip to Akron Zoo

We were heading to the Columbus Zoo this morning when I looked at the weather on Derek's phone and saw a mass of storms and rain heading straight for Cbus. We promptly made a U-turn and headed north on 71. Derek suggested the Akron Zoo and since neither of us had been there, we decided to check it out.

I AM SO GLAD WE DID! Today was the perfect zoo day, overcast-- not too hot, not too cold. We pulled into the parking lot two minutes from opening time and we parked one spot from the front. It was looking good from the start. :)

Abigail walked about 90% of the trip. Every exhibit was close to the next which kept her occupied and excited the whole time. She was such a big girl. Really the only thing we used the stroller for was to carry the gigantic diaper bag and the super-size red slushie (although if you ask Abs what color it is, she will say "yellow") because everything is yellow haha)

Abigail's Top Five Favorite Things at the Zoo:

1. Choo Choo Train-- which is really a dressed up tractor that pulls cars on pavement, not tracks... through a farm where we looked at the same rooster, a couple of chickens and goats :) SHE LOVED IT!
2. Silly Bear-- I am not sure what was going on with this bear, but Abs stood in front of the glass and it continually rubbed his head back and forth on the glass around her. It was a little odd, but Abs just called it "silly bear"
3. Snow Leopard-- you see, we read about one of these in a book and she was thrilled to see one, which she called a cat and noted the big tail. It was pretty cool, it jumped up on a ball and paced right in front of us.
4. Slushie-- Daddy got a super-brain freeze.. hehehe but Abs loved it. I am pretty sure this was her first slushie experience-- Cherry!
5. Climbing and Jumping-- off of everything, the chair, the curb, the edge of the exhibit windows, the playground equipment, her stroller (which also featured a REALLY exciting BUCKLE that she did and undid a number of times)

Other hits included: Fishies- glub glub, Butterflies ;), penguins (Daddy's favorite), sheep- we fed 'em crackers, touching the trees and grass, river otters-- Abigail wanted to join them in swimming, and of course people watching-- a little boy next to us was getting in trouble by his mommy because he wasn't sitting down, so Abigail thought she would help the mommy out so she pointed at the little boy and told him to "SHIT DOWN" hahaha

She was asleep by the time we were heading home on 71, with chocolate teddy grams on her face and her new zoo book in her lap.

Such an awesome day for the whole family :)