Phoenix Zoo

We went to the Phoenix Zoo on November 11th. This was Elise's first time at the zoo, and we all had a lot of fun. It wasn't too hot or too bright, and the animals were generally pretty visible. Besides forgetting the stroller, hitting my head pretty hard by the boa constrictor cage, and needing batteries for the camera, I don't think there's anything I really would have changed.

trying to take a picture when we got there,

but Elise was too busy looking around at all the interesting things

to glance toward the camera

First we stopped by to see the snake exhibit.

Matt was a fan of the large birds. I think this one was the golden eagle.

(What a great dad, carrying that diaper bag.)

The mountain lion was cool to see. It had such a long tail.

the Andean condor

(because you don't really get to pick when a stranger will offer to take a picture of the whole family)

The giraffes were awesome. They were some of my favorite animals we saw.

The rhinos were another favorite.

Elise liked the rhinos too, but she was mostly just interested in her graham cracker at this point.

Actually graham crackers were a big hit all day.

The monkeys were fun. You can see them pretty close because you just walk among them.

at the aviary

(I can't remember what type of bird this is.)

Elise really liked the flamingos.

She didn't really like sitting on that post, though.

I was surprised that the peacocks were pretty much allowed to go wherever they wanted.

There were even peacocks in the elephant exhibit.

The elephants were Elise's favorite thing. She loves elephants.

She's signing elephant in this picture.

Here's Elise petting the Komodo dragon. Just kidding.

This animal was fun to see, but the metal sculpture was probably even more fun.

She also enjoyed the metal orangutan sculptures. A lot.

Unfortunately, the real orangutans were pretty shy, and we only got a couple glimpses of them.

kissing the orangutan

cuddling the orangutan

At first, we were bummed that the zebras were so far away. Then we waited for a minute, and they came up so close. It was really cool.

By the end of the trip, we could tell Elise was pretty exhausted from missing her afternoon nap. She was doing fairly well, though, until she tripped while holding a graham cracker. The cracker broke, she was devastated, and she burst into tears. Then we gave her a new one, and the world was beautiful again.

Here she is with red eyes and a fresh cracker.

on our way out

Matt made sure he got a picture of Hawaii as we were leaving. (That's where he served a mission.)