After a fairly busy week, we determined to go to the zoo on Friday. Thanks to some highway construction (yippee), we missed our exit and ended up getting a drive-by tour of the Indianapolis Airport. At least, I tried to put a positive spin on it, while our driver was ready to turn around and go back home. I said "Boys, take a look, this may be where we fly out of for our trip to Canada (to see the red-sided garter snakes emerging from their hibernation pits next spring)." Hubby interjected, "We're never goin' to Canada!" (This dialogue already says a lot about our day.)
Despite the 90 degree temperatures, we had a pleasant day. One of the boys' favorite parts in the Ocean exhibit was the shark touch tank. Thankfully, we visited this spot twice (at the beginning of the day - when fully crowded, and at the end - when it was almost empty). All three boys enjoyed touching the sharks; although, we did have to keep a strict eye on MS who wanted to touch the fin. Future vacation idea? Swimming with sharks in Florida? (After all, hubby can't veto Florida, since my parents LIVE there! Ha!)
The train has to be the biggest disappointment at the Indy Zoo. I remember feeling this way back when we used to take ES here during our vacation visits to Indianapolis. We rode it anyway, out of consideration for YS's passion for trains. Here is an example of the running commentary: "On your left, you'll see the back of the building where we provide medical treatment for the animals. On your right, you'll see the back of the maintenance building. Coming up on your left, is the back of yet another building. Be sure to notice the screened images of animals on the walls of the building on your left." And just so the trip isn't a complete waste, they added some information on recycling. This was $12 on top of the $60 entrance fee and the $5 parking fee.
Since this zoo discourages bringing food into the facility, we walked back to our van - in the nether regions of the parking lot and ate a sack lunch, relishing our air-conditioning (and the savings, of course). I'm also glad the little boys didn't hit us up for a full face tattoo either (at $9) - although, the answer would have been "No, I'll paint your face myself when we get home."
The little boys had an absolute blast at the splash area. We did remember to bring swimming suits and towels. They spent over an hour in this area, while ES and hubby went back around other exhibits. ES was especially thrilled to get a shot of one of the snakes with his jaws wide open. Of course, we hit the Desert exhibit twice as well, since MS is crazy about snakes.
When we were in the petting zoo section, we noticed a sign for a snake talk. Hubby took YS back for another
I was surprised that YS wanted to touch a snake as much as MS did (although, he did tire of the activity more quickly). MS would have held that boa constrictor, if the zoo employee had let him.
From there we made our way to the Jungle exhibit, to view zebras, elephants, lions and giraffe.
Those animals couldn't hold a candle to my boys' interest in the baboons. I was hoping that ES had taken at least one shot of the adorable little baboon babies. Alas, most of the shots were of the baboon butts and winkies (believe me, if you don't have boys, you can't even begin to imagine how fascinating this aspect can be to them).
We were hoping to spend our last hour relaxing in the butterfly gardens. In past visits, this was always an enjoyable excursion because the gardens are beautiful and they run a small garden railroad. However, getting through the doors into the butterfly garden area was quite a chore this time (you have to make sure that the doors are fully sealed and it just seemed exceedingly crowded - another example of how timing for a visit can be so key). Plus the doors at the back were inaccessible (thus increasing the traffic for the entry doors). I did linger for a while inside with MS while hubby and the other two boys went to look for the garden railroad. MS asked for a penny to throw in the wishing area. I heard his wish: "I wish for a dog." Hey, at least it was a dog and not a boa constrictor!
Sadly, as we were trying to head out to the gardens to see the railroad, we were met by ES, who explained that the garden railroad wasn't running and the gardens were being readied for a wedding or something. Hubby was ready to leave, so ... no relaxing in the beautiful gardens.
Still, all in all, it was a good visit. ES floored us by his level of responsibility during the trip. He kept an eye on his little brothers every bit as much as we did and he was tremendously helpful. His stellar help even made me ask hubby to purchase a family pass (I was thinking, if he's so good with these little boys, we could do this more often, on days when ES has a half day. Alas, hubby declined my bid. Sheesh - you can't even get more frequent visits to the Indianapolis Zoo - how will we ever get to see those snakes in Canada???)
By the end of the day, I was tuckered out. I was sure that a whole day out in the heat would have zapped their energy and they would sleep like babies. Alas, no babies in my household. The two littles were wired for sound and MS couldn't sleep that night either (probably because he was anticipating his departure for music camp the following morning). Hmm, wondering if they'll have a petting zoo at CBLI this year (they had it a few other times - way cool for the little guys, and at no extra expense).
3 comments:
Well it sounds like the boys all enjoyed it so that should be a plus. We have the KC Zoo and they are pretty expensive as well. I actually belong to the Friends of the Zoo so when we go out of town on soccer trips, we can try to hit some of the other zoos.
And now for a collection of random comments....
I hate visiting places like this when it's crowded.
Once I got to wear a boa constrictor for a few minutes & immediately had a fierce panic attack. My heart will still flutter if I think about it too hard.
My favorite visit to a zoo EVER was the Singapore zoo, where they have worked very hard to make the exhibit areas as natural as possible for the animals. I got to see a polar bear swimming by a big glass wall- those guys are amazing fierce swimmers & look like aliens in the water. And also came around a corner to see a big male lion standing on a huge outcropping overhead, roaring full-out. Unbelievable.
It sounds like whoever designed the train for the Indi Zoo was on smack. Or else was given the task of putting in a train track whilst also avoiding 99% of the zoo. The zoo in Dallas did a good job with their 'train' where you actually ride sideways on tiered seats, like a small moving movie theater. We went over the gorilla exhibit & saw one of the big males swinging through it. Awesome.
I remember being wholly unimpressed with the San Diego zoo train - basically they ride you past all the animals you would otherwise skip because it is so danged hot. It's hard to appreciate all 50 varieties of African deer. After the first 20 or so, anyway. Even the kids were bored.
Kaci - I'm surprised we never visited the KC Zoo. My parents used to live in Overland Park, KS. We did a lot of train things in that area, but no zoo trips. I know up in the Chicago area it was always smart to latch onto those membership cards which could be used at many other locations.
Wendy - I will add Singapore to our list of travel dreams, ha! That would be cool, though. I guess I was spoiled when we had Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo (small but FREE) and Brookfield Zoo (ES's favorite).
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