act 3: the zoo

On Friday, we checked out of our hotel and drove to the zoo. The highlight for me was seeing a kiwi bird awake, eating, and running around its enclosure digging in the mulch. They are one of my favorite animals! The next best part was petting the stingrays. Unlike other animals I've encountered in touch tanks, the stingrays were SO EXCITED to be handled. They were swimming up the walls and pushing each other aside to get petted! Mae and Colin both recoiled a little after touching their slippery skin, but were both brave enough to keep putting their hands in the water!

They definitely made an impression on Mae. This was the picture she brought home from school on Monday!

We spent a lot of time watching the baby elephant, Frankie. He was very playful, and it was fun to watch him interact with the older elephants. The adjacent rhino must have felt some pressure to compete with the entertainment value of the baby elephant, because it spent the whole time trying to balance a large ball on its head... no easy feat with no arms to actually lift the ball up in the first place.

Colin also liked the sharks... which were actually manatees. This photo makes it look like he's really excited about the turtle, but he's actually screaming, "SHARK" at the passing manatee.

Lest it look like my kids are happy and well-behaved all the time, just know I had to bribe them with fruit snacks to get this cute surfing photo. I tried earlier in the day and they were both crabby and pouting at being made to pose. When we passed the same playground later in the day, I tried ye olde bribery trick with much success.

It was a fun-filled, exciting, exhausting spring break!