To the Zoo

On our many trips to Memphis over the last couple of years, we've heard so many people rave about the zoo there.  And since we had some extra time on this latest trip, we decided to check it out for ourselves.  As usual, the boys made it an interesting activity.  Clayton spent the entire time watching the trams/trains that traveled throughout the zoo.  He couldn't drive his chair for watching, and once they went by, he wanted to follow them, regardless of where we were actually headed.  (You can see that he was watching yet another one go by in the picture above).  I think Jackson enjoyed his trip--he mainly wanted to climb the gates and fences to get up close and personal with the animals.  He was also very distracted by the many fountains in the zoo.  We didn't realize you could bring your bathing suit and enjoy the water.  So many kids played in the fountains while Jackson looked on with a sad face because his mean old momma wouldn't let him jump in with his clothes on!  

I did find something out though.  While I'm not some maniac animal rights activist, I really don't enjoy the zoo.  It just seems so wrong to see a grizzly bear or polar bear while standing in 100 degree weather.  :/  Not to mention the fact that ever since Brian and I practically ran into a grizzly out in the wild (maybe I'll blog that story soon!), it just seemed a little anti-climatic to see one restricted to a certain amount of space.  

Despite my misgivings about the contrived habitats, we had an awesome afternoon as a family.  The boys were worn out from the fun and activity and Brian and I enjoyed every minute of our uninterrupted time with them.