take me to the zoo...

at zachary's request we visited the zoo.

there is no real zoo in austin, only a rehabilitation center, so we drove to the san antonio zoo. i've been there twice before, once as a child and once with my nieces before zach was born. both times i remember it being a really great zoo.

we were both just as excited about going. we are both animal fanatic's!

upon entering the zoo, our first stop was to admire the flamingos. they were beautiful... but i couldn't help noticing how green and polluted the water looked.

zachary very animatedly exclaimed... "shew weee what's that smell!?"

i started an explanatory reply...

"well, we are at the zoo and there will be many different sme--"

when the very smell in which he was speaking of hit me and i started to gag. i tried to stop... but couldn't. it was absolutely the worst smell i have ever encountered.

both of us gagging... we walked away as fast as possible, and unknowingly passed right by the reptile exhibit. (reptiles are zachary's favorite)

zachary kept saying "i'm going to throw up... i'm going to throw up"... to which i would say "i know honey, me too."

we kept walking to free ourselves from the smell, but apparently weren't quick enough and he blew chunks. i stooped to make sure he was okay, but i had no doubt it was from the smell alone.

as i was cleaning him up and getting him a drink of water, we were distracted by a loud howling noise. we searched on to see where it was coming from, and were amused to find these two bears.

the lower one was poking at and howling at the one resting above in the cave... then that one would yell back. finally the other responded by crossing the pin to where his food dish was and slammed it around, obviously very perturbed. it was really pretty funny!

next were the monkeys. momentarily hindered once again by a different, but still putrid smell, yet determined to have a good time we enjoyed them from a distance. one was in the mood to entertain, and z and i cracked up as he bounced around... taking time to look at each of us with an animated expression.

our next stop was really neat... walking through a stone tunnel and looking through glass panes we saw lemurs and wild cats. there were no bad smells here... but i couldn't help but notice that the water in every exhibit was green and full of debris.

we next came to the indoor aquarium where saw lots of beautiful fish, hippopotamuses.... and more dirty green water.

the african exhibit was a total disappointment. it was undergoing re-construction and there were no lions, no giraffes, only one zebra, one elephant, and a rhinoceros in the entire exhibit!

once again the smells were horrid... and comments from everyone confirmed that i was not being overly sensitive. mothers were not allowing their children to view the animals because the smell was so bad. even so... the rhino smells were nothing like the flamingo's earlier.

the rest of the exhibit was barren and dry. a dirt path with tall brown grass and no animals to enjoy... walking on the dirt in view of all the dry grass exhausted zachary and he determined then that he was ready to go home.

on the way out we stopped by the reptile exhibit. this was z's favorite. turtles, snakes, lizards... and air conditioning. we stayed in there for a long time.

on the way out, we were once again hit with the flamingo smell. i covered my nose with the map, and zachary once again, threw up.

i tore off a piece of the map for him to hold over his nose, and we hurried out of the zoo.

across the street we stopped for a 20 minute train ride, which was pretty fun.

our next stop was downtown at a really great authentic mexican food restaurant. then... home!

what a day!

although i think he enjoyed himself... all zachary can say is "the zoo is gross, and stinky!" hopefully i'll be able to change his mind soon. i think a visit to the fort worth zoo is in order.