Yesterday, we took the kids to the Oregon Zoo. It was Hannah’s second trip (third if you count ZooLights) and Henry’s first trip (although it probably wasn’t very memorable for him). It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time. The zoo wasn’t very crowded (although I did see three of my past students!), and we spent about five hours enjoying the animals and the time with the kids.

David and I decided that since the trip was really for Hannah, we would let her decide how long to spend at each exhibit. She climbed out of her stroller at each exhibit, and we would let her sit and look for as long as she was interested. It was really neat to get to re-live the zoo through her eyes, and watch her be so excited.

We started our zoo adventure by walking through the Great Northwest area. We saw the bighorn goat, bald eagles, cougars, bobcats, and black bears.

One of the black bears came right up to the glass while we were there. Hannah also liked to see the bobcat. She meowed at it. We stopped at a neat covered area with a lot of shade cover from some tall trees (and a great view of the eagle) to feed Henry and give Hannah a snack.

Although Hannah says the monkeys were her favorite, we noticed that she was the most taken with the fish displays. They were always the exhibits where she spent the most time. She would just stand and stare, and a few times she just plopped down in front of the glass. The fish were one of the exhibits that we think Henry saw as well. The zoo had several different fish displays, as well as a duck display that Hannah also really enjoyed.

The Great Northwest was probably one of my favorite parts of the zoo. It is the newest exhibit, and is really nicely done. They have a lot of neat non-animal features, such as waterfalls, wood carvings, as well as incredible natural landscaping and scenery. There is a great covered bridge, a log slide, and a neat eagle viewing room. Both kids had a good time checking out the animals of the Northwest. Henry seemed interested in some of the water exhibits, although as you’ll see from one of the pictures below, he was also content to stare at a concrete wall.

On our way to a picnic lunch on the large grassy area, we stopped at the “family farm” and let Hannah pet the pygmie goats. She had fun getting to go into the pen with them, and was very gentle with the goats. We also stopped to see the monkeys, many of which were not visible due to construction on the new red ape exhibit.

After lunch, we headed over to the Africa exhibit. (We’re so looking forward to the return of lions btw). We got to see the hippo (Hannah called it hee-po) the zebra, and the giraffe. The rhino decided to hide.

Next we headed over to Pacific Shores, another fairly new zoo exhibit. It features sea lions (which are HUGE), otters, fish (and starfish, coral, etc.). Again, Hannah was taken with the water displays. Its hard to blame her, as they really are neat. The exhibit features several large water walls. You really can’t describe having a giant seal lion swim right next to you…its amazing.

We took another break near the penguin exhibit. There is a fountain and a few statues that Hannah enjoyed climbing on and looking at. Henry was again, taken with the trees. Anytime there is a tree around, Henry will turn his head towards them, no matter where they are and how hard they are to see.

We finished our time at the zoo with a visit to the penguins and the polar bears. Hannah really enjoyed the penguins. They were molting, so the water was filled with feathers. The polar bears were all asleep!

After we were done looking at animals, we took a ride on the zoo train. We took the “long loop” through Washington Park. The trees are beautiful, and you can’t get a view like that very many places. In addition to views of the park, you could see bits and pieces of the new animatronic dinosaur exhibit, a few birds, and the elephants (which was great because we couldn’t see them inside the zoo.) Henry fell asleep, but Hannah really seemed to enjoy the ride. We can’t wait to take her back!