The Zoo!

Yesterday we headed to the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown which is about 30 minutes north of home. We hadn't been before but had heard good things about it. As it was July 4th, we expected it to be quiet and it was...there was hardly anyone about and we loved that. The animal collection is from North and South American, from a beautiful leopard and scary snakes to prairie dogs and alligators. Lucy ran from one animal cage to another excited about what she saw - "I want to see something else!".

I think one of our favourites were the prairie dogs which we hadn't seen before. They had a huge pen that simulated their natural desert environment, full of burrows and mounds that they scampered in and out of. They looked like squirrels but brown and without bushy tails. The wolf was impressive too, and he was sufficiently like a Red Riding Hood Wolf for Lucy to be a little afraid of him as the cage was really quite close to the path!

Prairie dogs

The wolf

Thankfully there were lots of trees and plenty of shade at the zoo considering it was such a hot day. We ran through the patches of sun to get into the shade again and despite the suncream, we all caught a bit of sun.

Lucy had fun on the couple of playgrounds around the zoo including one next to the bald eagle display which was modeled after a huge eagle nest in a tree (apparently they can get as big as 9 metres wide and weight a tonne!). The Animal Kingdom playground in the centre of the zoo was a big hit and Lucy did some impressive climbing down a climbing wall. She is so independent these days and refuses help with many things!

The bald eagle

We got extra close to a tortoise which was being shown off by a zoo keeper. Ironically it took Joe ages to get a decent photo of him without blurring, as it was moving too quickly!

Navigating on the map - Lucy loves maps - "where are we Mummy?"