The emu who smelled my butt

On the day we were planning to go to the zoo, I found a 25% off coupon online. I REFUSE to pay full price when I can get a discount! Period! Anyhow, the entrance fee to the zoo is $44 normally so why not get a membership? I got ours and then found out, once we got there, that we also get a discount on the $16 parking! Hot damn. So instead of paying almost $40 round trip for Eric and I on the bus/train/ferry because it was a Saturday not a Sunday, we only paid $11.50 with the tolls and parking. Not bad.

So the zoo. Beautiful views. Pretty good exhibits (though I still feel really sad for the animals who normally roam and are now mostly confined into a small space.) I guess zoos are both good for us: to see what can be out in nature; and good for the animals: so their species *may* have a chance to survive if we are educated about their habitat destruction, etc. At the same time it's not great for the animals who are the sacrifice for the species and have to be confined to such a small space and not allowed to roam freely. But for this entry, it will be about the good. We had a good time at the zoo. Loved seeing the animals. Loved the views. And plan to come back again very soon.

View from the zoo. 

Looking at green crawly things.

Amelia loved the reptiles because so many of them were green. Green frogs, green turtles, green lizards. It was a paradise of greenness! 

Giraffes and the skyline.

Favorite picture of the day. 

A corn and butter covered "CHEESE!"

 We had lunch at the main food court and Eric's sandwich came with a small piece of overcooked, over-buttered corn. Amelia loved it!

These birds will steal the sugar packets right out of your hand!

 While she took a nap, Eric and I stopped at a cafe near the children's zoo. I had a coffee and he had a mocha. The lorikeet had sugar; lots and lots of sugar! These birds have no fear and will go right up to you and eat food out of your had (which I thought was a bad a idea) but it hopped on the table and grabbed the open sugar packet and tried to run off with it!

Can you find the bug?

The bugs in this room were super cool! I can't believe how amazing they can be at camouflage--I guess we have a lot to learn from our friends in nature.

Amelia's favorite part of the zoo? The pigs. The big, hairy, smelly, piggies! They had the mama, papa and babies. They're actually half wild boar have miniature pig. But their smell is not miniature! Some of the piglets had spots and some did not. Amelia liked pointed out they were polka dotted pigges.

Crazy butt smelling emu and his kangaroo friend.

On our way out of the kid's zoo, we came to the kangaroos. And there was an emu. Um. This was kind of a scary emu. All of these animals are allowed to roam around. The giant bird came up to me while I was bending down to get something out of the stroller. It had it's face right by my butt (I did have a backpack on with food in it). But the darn thing would not leave me alone. I got a little scared. I screamed a little. And then we all had to laugh about it. Now we tell the story of the "big, giant bird that scared mommy."

Just the kanga.