Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

What do you do in St. Louis when the temp drops to the mid 80s & the humidity is virtually non existent? What if all the schools in the area are in session while your child's has a professional development day? You go to the Zoo! Not only do the kids have a great time looking at all the animals, but the mommies get to chat & have a little exercise at the same time.

Max peeking at the elephant peeking at Max

We started our trip in the River's Edge part of the zoo which is home to the elephants, hippos, cheetahs and hyenas among others. Max always likes to visit the new baby elephant but alas, he was nowhere to be seen. Most of the elephants were playing hide 'n seek but a few of them just couldn't resist a peek at us.

Connor & Kristi looking at the elephant.

The Hippo habitat is really cool. The viewing area is a cross section of the pool so you can see the entire animal as its lounging in the water, not just its snout. But since the hippos decided to take their rest in a corner with their backs to the crowd, people felt the need to jam the available viewing space to watch them do nothing. Max found a nifty spot that had no hippos but lots of fish to watch.

Max in front of the Hippo habitat.

The River's Edge is set up to look more like the animals natural habitat than traditional zoos so around every corner is an exhibit worked into the surrounding foliage like a nest of newly hatched snakes in a hollow log or giant nest in the trees. The kids really like the log because it just big enough for them to run through but Max's favorite is the female cobra with her eggs.




Next it was off to the Big cats where everyone was asleep except for the jaguar. He must have been having an awful bout of insomnia since he was pacing furiously. I couldn't get a decent picture of him & the kids (they're kind of wiggly too) so I settled for getting both kids in the shot.

Max & Connor watching the jaguar pace.

We saw quite a few more animals but there was no way to get more pictures. Kristi was pushing Connor in Max's stroller, I was pushing Chase in her stroller with Max riding on my shoulders. (I told you I got some exercise!) The we passed the mist fan. The zoo has big fans that blow a nice cool mist set up at various points to combat the nasty St. Louis summers. The boys had a great time running back and forth in front of it. By the time they were done, their hair was soaked.How cool is that fan!

Did I mention that the zoo is free? Yup!
Bring a picnic lunch (and park at the Art Museum) & you don't have to spend a dime. Unless, of course, you get sucked into one of the many gift shops scattered around.