Sunday, April 15, 2012

Denver Zoo

With such fantastic weather, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit the Denver Zoo.  Andrew loves his animals!


Watching a zebra munching away.



This peacock scared the daylights out of Andrew.  You could hear them "calling" all over the zoo to mate. It was so loud that any time Andrew heard it, he would run over to me and make me pick him up.  He sure is pretty though.  :)


Andrew's animal - the tiger!



Those peacocks are everywhere!



This was so awesome!  We just so happened to run across the zookeepers doing a little dental work on their 55 year old hippopotamus named Bert.  He told us that they needed to saw off (yes, saw off!) about two inches of his teeth because in captivity they don't tend to wear down like they do in the wild.  So, we all watched with fascination as he coaxed Bert to open his mouth while he placed a large saw in the hippo's mouth.  Dustin and I were amazed that Bert was okay with this because hippo's are notoriously aggressive animals.  It's times like these that I had almost wished I went into Zoology instead of Museum Education - although while interning at a zoo, I realize that zoos are much dirtier than museums.  :)




I'm going to tell you now, that I am a sucker for those cheesy activities that you do at the zoo.  Yes, I wanted to know how far I could jump and compare myself to that animal.  I did not have that much confidence to start out with and was convinced that I would only jump as far as a spider....



5 feet!  The penguin is my equal!


Andrew loved the primate house.  Here he is getting friendly with a chimpanzee.


He had so much energy that he wanted to push his own stroller.  At least I know I'm in good hands if I ever find myself in a wheelchair.  :)  Then again, Andrew didn't know how to steer.




Family picture - we don't get too many of those.



Daddy showing Andrew the Black Bears!


Goodbye!


The Farm @ Lee Martinez Park

Another great family friendly place to visit in Fort Collins is The Farm @ Lee Martinez Park.  It is a petting zoo and small museum.

Andrew loved looking at all of the animals and started using more of his words instead of gestures.  He knew how to say "chicken" and tried to get his little hands inside of the fence on multiple occasions.  He loved his little chick stamp they gave him on his wrist.


He was trying to get up close and personal with a pig.





There they are!



He tried to touch the sheep...


Stared at them from afar...


Rode his first tractor!




Attempted to "fix" a wagon wheel.


Surprise attack on the leg of a horse!


Those ducks are just out of his reach.


He could have fed the goats, but he wasn't going near them with a ten foot stick!  Which is funny since he will charge a fence and try to get closer if the animals are too far away.



This was a great place to bring Andrew and let him run around.  And who knows?  Fort Collins may eventually be the place we call home.

The Gardens on Spring Creek

What a busy week we've had!  We spent the week of Easter on vacation visiting some family in the Denver area.  To keep busy, we took advantage of the offerings of the great outdoors and headed to Fort Collins about an hour north of Denver to The Gardens on Spring Creek.

The gardens were only just starting to sprout, so there wasn't too much to look at, but Andrew still had a great time walking around and playing.

He's not quite as tall as this Giant Sequoia.



Posing beside one of the giant watering cans.


Dr. Seuss house





There was lots of cool recycled art work interspersed among the gardens.






Something tells me that Andrew would have made us millions if he was a baby model.  Look at that pose!