The Zoo

We ventured off to the Des Moines Zoo a few days ago. It was HOT! Not Florida or Texas hot, but nonetheless. We loved it! We are members for the Houston zoo, so we got in for free. Yipee. Oh my gracious, guess which animal we happened to see first? Not one, but two red pandas. Gabe was obsessed with the one in Houston. It looks more like a racoon, than anything. But Gabe remains fascinated.

Here he is on front of the exhibit for the red panda in Houston. This picture always makes me laugh. He looks like he is going to implode with excitement, but wants to remain a casual adult. The panda is in the tree.

Back to the Des Moines zoo. It was amazing, smaller than Houston but I dare say better. There were areas where you simple opened up a gate and walked into the exhibits or "cages" and just stayed on the sidewalk and the animals roamed free, even on the sidewalks sometimes.

Peacocks

wallaby

This was soooo neat! They aren't skiddish at all.

The giraffes were my favorite. They have feeding times too where you can get really close, but we missed it. I told Gabe we should go back again just to feed them.

I just love looking at their necks. The fur is so amazing!

Here are a few more pics. Too many to share!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!