the zoo...

I can't believe July is over...seriously, it flew by - we were busy and did a lot of fun family things...and now it's the last day of July. wow. Only a few weeks until School starts (which means we'd better get the school shopping wrapped up soon.)

And finally, here's proof that the Anderson's really did visit the zoo...2008:

...at the entrance...out of about 10 pictures, this is the best one. I could not get all four kids to look at me at the same time...let alone try to look happy, sheesh...

our first mission was to ride the train. We bought our tickets ($1 each) and waited in line for a few minutes before it was our turn. The kids chose the caboose...so they loaded in and I took a few more pictures. In about 27 seconds, our train ride was over. Seriously, the dang thing was going so fast I thought I was on some amusement park ride -- it went too fast to even see the different animals and things along the tracks -- way too fast. oh well...we can say we rode the train...and that's what matters, right?

of course, we had to visit the lion drinking fountain...you can't go to Hogle Zoo and NOT drink out of the lion's mouth...

...we saw the white alligator (or was it a crocodile?) and I made the kids sit in the boat outside of the display for a photo. As you can see, they were more than happy to oblige...

Seth's all-time favorite animal is an elephant...so you can bet he was absolutely thrilled when we came upon the Elephant Encounter section of the zoo.

This big elephant thing was hilarious - it made weird noises and occasionally air would spurt out of the holes in the trunk - the kids thought it was so funny!

Josh was our official map reader...

Josh was also the only one who would pose on the rhino for me...

It was a super hot day and we all got hot and tired fast. We stopped for sno-cones once and just enjoyed the shade and cool drink. We decided to head out - even though we hadn't seen all of the animals - it was just not fun anymore. We did, however, have to stop in the souvenir shop...where we enjoyed browsing for a long time because the air conditioning was divine. The kids all found something to take home as a memento of our day.

And right before we left, I decided I wanted proof that I had been with the family at the zoo, so I had Brad snap a quick photo before we headed out to the van.

Next time I talk about going to the zoo, will someone please remind that only idiots go the zoo when the temps are 100+? Everyone would have more fun, and the animals would be more active and interesting to watch if we weren't all miserable in the heat. In the future, I only want to visit the zoo in the cooler months...like October.