Field Trip Friday: Kansas City Zoo

  One of Mookie's requests for her birthday was to go to the Kansas City Zoo with one of her best friends.  She'd gotten the idea after we went to that zoo last year and so today the day had arrived!  This was a bit of a stretch for me.  I HATE driving in Kansas City traffic.  When Hubby and I lived in Southern Illinois early in our marriage and we would come home to NE Kansas to visit, I would make him take the Kansas City stretch and I would drive through St. Louis I hated it that much.  Today, I didn't have my security blankets, Hubby was not able to come, neither were Ducky and Grandma.  So I took our 3 and Mookie's buddy and headed out. 
  We made it to KC with no problem - yay! We were even able to take advantage of everyone going back to school and got a great parking place!
  One of the kids' most favorite exhibits is the polar bear.  He was doing his rounds and coming right by the windows today!

Even though you couldn't see him as well from the inside viewing area, they were just as thrilled to watch there:)
   We have a spot on the "tiger trail" that we've taken a pic every year we've been there.  This is ours from this year.

  I have no idea what the girls were looking at, but it must have been really interesting:)

   Swope Park where the zoo is is beautiful.  It's heavily wooded and that helped a ton on a hot and humid day like today!  I am so thankful I took my Granny's idea of freezing bottled water and taking it with us!
   We sprang for a "gold pass" which gave us rides on the train, the tram and the carousel.  The train was Shorty's favorite part.  All he could do when he got home was tell Hubby "train, tunnel, round and round".  Another great part was the feeding of the animals.  I was so proud of Shorty, he really got in there and wanted to feed those furry mouths!

Our carousel riders

  By the time we reached the halfway point and were going to cross into Africa, the heat and walking had dissolved our energy.  That part is a huge area and I was wondering if they were going to be sad if we didn't make it through all of it.  So, we just played it by ear.  We decided to go the opposite way we usually do, and caught a loop we've never made it to where the leopards and gorillas are.  To get there, you have to go over this cool suspension bridge.

  The leopard area was really neat.  They were off in the corner today, but it was set up in such a way that you might catch sight of them overhead!
   When we finished the loop Mookie look like she'd been dragged over some coals, and I asked if everyone was ready to leave.  There was no hesitation.  We caught the tram ride back to the front.  The tram driver was one of the most entertaining we've ever had:)  Even though we didn't "do" it all, we had a ton of fun!
  We left the zoo just after 4 o'clock.  This was my worry, driving KC traffic with everyone else and their brother at the end of a work day.  We made it though.  Even through the dreaded "Grandview Triangle" *shudder*, without too much stress!  That deserved a celebration of ice cream on the way home!  What a blessed day:)