The zoo is so much fun!

I finally took the opportunity to take the kids to the zoo and see the new penguin exhibit. We have a terrific zoo, and the exhibit was just completed a few months ago. I love to go to the zoo anyway, and I especially love the jungle house. It's all tropical with lots of plants and animals, and the waterfall makes it sound really great. Now that I am working second shift, I can take advantage of having mornings off and go to the zoo before going to work. It was really a fun, relaxing day.

This is a picture looking through the waterfall in the jungle house back out into the building. The water is so cool looking, and I love the way it smears the colors. The dark horizontal lines are branches of a small tree that hang out over the pond area where the waterfall drops.

This baby giraffe was born only a couple of days earlier. He is really so cute, and more stable on his legs than I would have thought. The rhinos also had a baby a week or so earlier, but I couldn't get a great picture of her. She was pretty darn cute, too though.

And of course, the river otters are always fun to watch. They were all over the place, wrestling in the water, and playing. I just happened to catch this one while he stepped out in the sun for a minute, and just before he dove back in.

It was pretty fun to get up close and personal with the penguins. The exhibit is designed so that viewers can see right into the tank from above and from in front. The glass front makes it easy to see what the birds look like when they swim. These are Humboldt penguins, and are quite a bit smaller than the more recognizable Emperor penguins. They are still pretty darn cute!

And in my mind, no visit to the zoo is complete unless I get to see the flamingos. Last summer we had a couple escape. They eventually got tracked down and returned, but for a while the flamingos were on the lam!

I just had a great time, relaxed (although it was crazy hot), and had fun. The boys also had fun, and with a family pass, we'll get to go several more times I'm sure.