We've been squeezing in some late summer traveling, and the weather has been so perfect. Friday, we spent the day at the Mesker Park Zoo with my Dad and some of my siblings to celebrate Dad's birthday. The adults were outnumbered, but we managed to maintain relative control :^)
Here are a few pictures from the outing. We started the day with a mandatory group photo on the deck overlooking the Ostrich pen. My sister's husband (who hates being photographed) happily volunteered to take the picture.
We only had one slight mishap ... a lost flip flop that fell into the Ostrich pen. Thankfully a helpful zookeeper quickly retrieved it and we were on our way.
The zoo is situated around a wonderful pond, so the kids got to enjoy playing in the paddle boats (well, I think the adults enjoyed it too, although there were some murmerings of tired legs).
I had fun playing with my new telephoto lens. This was the first time I'd really had an outdoor opportunity to try it out, and I was very happy with the results. There were some flowers around the pond that attracted lots of butterflies.
These birds were in the new Amazonia Rain Forest exhibit.
The peacocks roamed freely around the zoo. The kiddos loved it when they discovered some of their feathers on the ground.
This strange little tree climbing porcupine was one of my favorites.
And the Leopard was a big hit with the kids. The exhibit had a little child-sized opening where the kids could step inside and get right up close to see him.
The kids had a grand time running around and playing in the Creatures of the Night exhibit.
This was one of my favorite shots of the day ... my Dad having a grand time celebrating his birthday surrounded by family.
Happy Birthday Dad.
