Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Sunday's visit was to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. We arrived shortly after 10 a.m. when they opened and temperatures were already nearing 90 degrees. The day before, they'd had a special event showcasing their flowers and landscaping. I thought this was pretty just inside the entrance.

Aren't flamingos so pretty?

There were painted elephants all over the zoo in varied colors and designs.

Their elephant exhibit was really cool!

The atlas-addicts study our zoo map.

Peeking into a bird exhibit.

Camels!

Sea lions

Reindeer!

More pretty plants.

This zoo had koalas and kangaroos (the latter pictured below) unlike the Toledo Zoo, but they were so small and not up close that I didn't get very good pictures.

Walking through the mist sprayer.

Our last stop was The Rain Forest exhibit, which is vast (and indoors!) and a unique feature of this zoo. We all felt a little more rejuvenated as we walked around out of the sun.

This was just the path that led up to the indoor part.

We are indoors here!

Climbing a cool set of spiral stairs to the second level. There were regular stairs near the elevator but these were much more fun. :)

Lush plants and animal habitats were everywhere.

We'd never seen a live anteater before, though we've read about them several times in books! I didn't realize their tails were sort of bushy.

Oh, the monkeys! We could all stand here and watch them forever. They are just SO interesting! There was even a little baby and they were all chasing each other and swinging around. I just love monkeys! I asked Will if we should get a pet monkey and he looked at me like I was crazy.

Will, pretending he's a monkey.

Orangutans!

Aren't these exhibits cool?

This was a central area that simulated an actual rain forest. There were noises and "storms" with pretend rainfall and "lightning" (lights flashing). So cool.

Turtles that looked like they were kissing just before my camera flashed. :)

The end.

On the drive home, Sophie made Will hold her hand while she sang "Rock-a-bye Baby".

Every so often, he'd yank his hand away and they'd both break up in fits of laughter.

Then she'd demand he give it back and they'd repeat this cycle: hand-holding and singing, yanking hand away, laughing, repeat. A very entertaining drive. ;)

We made it home a little after 2:00 and the kids layed (laid? - there's that word again!) down for a nap while I fell asleep on the couch for an hour before watering the garden (we NEEEEED RAIN!!!) and making dinner.