Here are some of the many pictures that Paige and I took at the zoo today. We started our trek in the North America section and then ended our visit at Asia Quest so we could see the newest addition to our zoo, baby Beco.
These first 3 photos were taken at "Habitat Hollow" a fun little home built to teach folks about animal habitats and to encourage everyone to reduce, reuse and recycle.

I was pretending to plug my nose but it looks like I was pushing my glasses up..oh well it seemed like it would be a cute shot. Paige looks much cuter with her foxy friend.

We spent quite a while enjoying these little ducklings that were walking across the lily pads. The frogs didn't seem to mind it was pretty darn cute.

Since the weather was so mild the animals seemed a little more active. We enjoyed watching the wolves roam around. Paige took the picture below it is not perfectly focused but I love how it feels intimate.

We also spent a lot of time watching the antics of the otters. They always look like they are having the time of their lives. I love the shot below....tail pointed straight up as he dives headfirst into the pond.

We stopped to look at the Bison and she came up to give me a hug (she does this often..and it thrills me that she still does it in public) so I threw my arm out and snapped our photo.
If you look close you can see the cute little silver puppy dog necklace that Deb gave me for my birthday. I got my b.day gifts from Deb last Sunday. Last Sunday was Rowdy's 13th birthday so I love that I got this cute little pup on Rowdy's b.day...it makes it extra special!

She is her father's child...that face above comes directly from Mike. I could probably find a few pictures with him making that same face...but then she turned on the charm and gave me a pretty Paige smile below.

Paige and her camera...she was enjoying taking lots of photos today. She took some very good shots of the baby elephant. She also took this shot of the swan. I have a feeling that if Mike were down loading these he would have deleted it..but not me I think it is pretty good...a headless goose. Oh and I love the reflection too.

I took these photos while the kids were standing on a bench so they could see the swans. Sometimes it is fun to take photos from a different angle. I like seeing the tree branches behind their heads...it sure beats having peoples midsections behind their heads.

When I was putting these photos on the computer I came across this one of Megan that I snapped today and all of a sudden I noticed that my baby is growing up. She will be 8 in 11 days. She lost her first front tooth a year ago today...and the other a week and half later when we were out in California. So maybe that is why she looks so old all of a sudden...it's the "big front teeth".

We saw the Rhino on the way to see the mane event...baby Beco, Phoebe and Coco's son. He was born at 300lbs. on March 27th. He now weighs in at about 537 lbs. and he looks so tiny next to his mama.

I love this shot that Paige took below...look at how the mama and baby both have their legs crossed the same. Is that cute or what?

Oh and here is baby Beco trying to do a headstand...silly little boy.

There are always trainers out when the elephants are in the yard...and Beco went over to check them out. This is a nice shot so you can see how big he is compared to a person. He is like a 500 pound puppy. I bet they are required to where steel toed boots.

We were hoping that they would take a swim in the pond. Back when Bohdi (Phoebe's last calf) was this age they would swim together. Maybe it was not warm enough today.

This was as good as it got with the Tiger pictures.
The Markhor Goat looked very regal up on it's perch.

The Pheasant Avery is always a fun place to snap some close ups of colorful birds.

Before we left we walked through one of the gift shops. Megan would not pose with the silly flamingo hat for me but she did a good job of doing a dramatic snake photo.
Oh and don't you love the magnifying glass...my what big eyes she has!

Before we left the zoo we stopped by the new "Animal Encounters" area. They have birds on display and they bring out small critters for the kids to learn about and touch. (that is why we carry hand sanitizer in our bag). They also put on animal shows with domestic and wild animals who have all been rescued from area shelters.

Above the kids petted a Rat Snake. I am proud of them for not being afraid to touch reptiles, they are smart nonsquirmish girls.
Below they are petting a little guy that is the cousin to a Ferret.

Megan was getting friendly with a baby American Aligator.