Ava Goes to Zoo Sees Lots of Animals

That is the title of one of Ava's favorite bedtime stories. In it, she awakens, eats, rides to the zoo, pays for a ticket, then gets to choose which animals to see, and in what order (though the number of animals varies depending on her parent's level of patience and energy). She rides the backs of old, slow turtles. She feeds french fries to the foxes. She climbs the long neck of the giraffe to pull leaves off the trees. She has tea with the monkeys. Last Saturday we all went to the zoo, and Ava's bedtime story became a reality. Except for the part about riding on turtles, feeding foxes, climbing on giraffes, and having tea with monkeys. But she DID feed goats, wave to the fox, and giggle at the turtles. No giraffes.


This photo, though it's hard to see, is actually a monkey driving a car. Really, the zoo must give him a donut every time he does that. Quite a crowd-pleaser.

Austin Zoo is a rehabilitation/rescue zoo, so it's a little more humble than the big city zoos, but we really liked it. You get up close and personal to the animals, including FIVE giant tigers, which I admit unnerved us a bit in the aftermath of the San Francisco tiger attack. We kept a close eye on those guys and were not entirely convinced that the fences holding them couldn't be scaled. Ava offered them french fries and a sweet smile to pacify them.

This is Derek, trying to get up the nerve to feed the goats. I teased him about his lack of courage, but honestly, I really didn't want to get near enough to get slimed by them, either. Derek overcame his timidity and let the goats feast from his palm, but he paid a price: a goat sneezed on him. Eeeewww! But trooper that he is, he kept on feeding.


And we rode the Rawhide Rocket--a train that meanders past emus, longhorns, and the like. A definite highlight for the toddler/baby set. And a great spot for happy family shots: