San Diego Zoo

When we travel to California in the summer, we try to squeeze in one "event." This summer we chose the San Diego Zoo. I had been to this zoo many, many (many) years ago, and remember it being such a beautiful place. This was Chris and Madelyn’s first trip to this zoo, and it was a big hit! If you’ve ever been there you know it requires you to be quite fit as you wind your way up and down all the steep hills. Fortunately, we all were feeling ready for the challenge!

When we arrived I realized this is the first "theme park" where I did not search for a great Internet deal. I couldn't believe it. I am always on top of it when it comes to finding a smoking deal. Oh well. Life was just too hectic, and I didn't make it a priority. The zoo did have a package deal where we got a few "extras" included if we upgraded our tickets. We figured since we were already paying an arm and a leg, we might as well add fingers and toes. ;)

We enjoyed the bus tour around the zoo. This gave us a great idea where things were, and allowed us to identify the places we didn't want to miss. It also gave us the chance to see some of the animals from "behind the scenes." 

Herb Wall Garden (I loved this!)

What would a visit to a theme park be without some face painting. I am sure all of you are well aware that this is something Madelyn would trade her parents in for... not sure why it's so appealing to her because she always wants to take it off a couple hours after it's on, but it's her favorite thing. 

We loved that she chose to have a flamingo painted on her forehead. Some of the options included FULL face painting, and I was prepared to put my foot down on that, but fortunately, I didn't have to say anything. I've never been a huge fan of those pink, strange-looking birds, but they're on my list now. 

Before

After

After Madelyn got her face painted, we could hardly wait to get to the polar bears. We saw a glimpse of them behinds the scenes on the bus tour, so we couldn't wait to see them up close and personal. 

When we got there, Chris and I were excited to see some of the exhibits before we got to the bears. I think that's one of my favorite parts of this zoo... the descriptions and facts are amazing. Madelyn even liked for us to read some of the information to her. 

The polar bears themselves weren't actually that exciting....

Sydney, the Koala Bear!

A Real Koala

Another favorite of Madelyn's is the Sky Ride. And boy, this particular ride was FAST! We are accustomed to the Wildlife World Zoo, where it's a fairly small ride, and pretty slow. Of course, the faster, the better, as far as Madelyn is concerned!  So off we went! On to the petting zoo (and some other exhibits)...

By this time, we've had a really long day, but we haven't yet seen the Panda Bears, a MUST at the San Diego Zoo, as we were told. When we were on the Sky Ride (both the first and second time) we noticed how incredibly long the wait was to see them. 

We waited until after dinner time, right during one of the dragon shows, and found that the line was quite short. YAY! Funny enough, as we got up to the pandas, we saw one eating some bamboo, and one sleeping in a tree. And then... nothing. Chris and I both giggled as we exclaimed, "Is that it?" The sweet employee working the exit of this exhibit laughed at us. I am sure our expressions were the same as everyone else who waited in line. Although, thankfully, we didn't have to wait too long. I know pandas are rare, and we do feel lucky to have seen them. We just expected more.

Before we got to either of the actual pandas, they had us pose for a family picture in front of a green screen. The guy told Madelyn to hold her hands in a particular fashion because she would be holding a panda bear in the picture. She was SO excited! I mean, she was SO excited that she didn't really care about seeing the real pandas after that. She just wanted to get to the picture booth! 

Much to her disappointment, when we go the picture, I said, "Look! You're holding a panda bear!" To which Madelyn quickly replied with a scowl on her face, "I thought I was going to hold a REAL panda!" Oops. I sometimes forget how literal little children can be. ;)

After the pandas, we made our way to the elephant exhibit. This was fantastic! Madelyn wanted to "ride" on every one of the animals. And she is quite the photo nut because I was hoping to get a picture of just me with the elephant, but NOPE. Not a chance. 

Thank goodness for the People Movers!

My Monkeys!

Oh, the stories I could tell about the gorillas....

It was getting pretty late in the evening after we spent a long time observing the silly gorillas. It was hard to pull ourselves away from their harry antics. We told Madelyn she'd have to choose two more animals to visit before we had to leave, and as we made our way around to the sign which directed us to the animals, we told her to read it and decide where she wanted to go. She chose the hippos. Chris and I couldn't have been more disappointed. I'm not sure why, but we had no interest. Fortunately for all of us, however, we let Madelyn have her way (for the eighteenth time this trip) and went to see the hippos. 

Best decision ever! As it turned out, the hippo exhibit was our favorite! These huge animals were probably the most entertaining of the whole day!

Lastly, Madelyn let me pick, and I chose (as always) the giraffes! I knew there was a baby giraffe to see, and I certainly didn't want to miss her! The giraffes were another great addition to our day. 

Although we were all exhausted by the day's end, we were so glad we chose this as our adventure for the summer of 2012, and we will certainly come back at some point in the future!