Exploring the Zoo

 

 One of our favorite outings is the Zoo. We are really lucky to be close enough to the Memphis Zoo to explore it several times a year.

Today we took a spur of the moment trip hoping to get a glimpse of the new giraffe baby, but unfortunately it wasn't in the front for some reason. As usual, though the zoo never disappoints. 
 

We enjoyed seeing the Panda exhibit. One of the pandas was enjoying a lovely pile of bamboo out in the sunshine the other one was napping. In the panda habitat there are animals in the ponds that surround the entrance. We got to see an albino turtle.
This was truly a beautiful and unique animal.

The  polar bears, the sea lion show are always a favorite. There was only one polar bear in the viewing area today, and although it wasn't very active it is always amazing to see such an impressive and imposing animal. He was more in the mood for napping than playing in the water. The sea lions on the other hand were ready to put on a show, and there are now eight of them at the zoo four of them are 2-4 years old and in the process of being trained. We arrived in time to watch the show and then the kids went to a favorite spot and climbed into the bubble to watch the sea lions effortlessly glide through the water and near the glass as if teasing.

The penguins and pelicans hang out in the middle of the zoo and are always an entertaining break while running to try to see "everything" while we are there. It really never happens, but we always try.


The bears in the  Northwest Passage put on an show for us fighting over a toy in the water. One won and got the float, the other sulked of and found a tree to play with. It was quite entertaining.

We explored the Night Animals and saw bats, the anteater, porcupines, the sloth, binturong,  and little naked mole rats(they are one of my favorite).

Elephants, rhinos, ostrich are a usual stop for us also. Then we moved on to the Hippo exhibit. We saw the two huge crocodile, but no hippos were out at the time. We wound our way around the corridor and stopped in to say hi to the young vultures; they seem to almost be fully feathered and no longer have their baby fluff. They have grown quite a bit.


One of the odd things that we saw and just couldn't quite figure out was why the Zebra had a bright pink dart in its hind quarter.




Right now there is also a Lego exhibit that has some amazing sculptures creations, each on using thousands of pieces to create.

And the lions of course are in their usual spot sitting vigil and watching all the people watching them.

Market Season 2017

Spring is officially here and as usual I am behind...in my posting at least. We have had a lot of things going on in our household over the last few months that I will try to re-cap soon.

Today, though I am preparing for our first market of 2017. We will have our usual stuff displayed, but we are also adding art.

The kids love art and have wanted to be part of the market for years, so we are including some of the things they make.

So Today we will have some mini paintings that we turned into magnets. As we progress through our school year and forward we will be including bigger and varying types of art and craft work that they accomplish.