Denver Zoo at Two-ish

2 at the Zoo has been pretty fun. Ethan runs like a crazy kid but he also gets to explore and see new things. If only I could learn to chill out a little bit more, I'm sure we'd all have more fun! Denver weather is great! We came to the Zoo in April to see all the new babies, we were in shorts and no jackets! We did have snow off and on until May but at least they come between 70 degree days.
Here is....mmmm....can't tell if it's Daddy or Mama and Baby Giraffe, I think Daddy. Anyway, it was so cool to watch these guys. There were two or three baby Giraffes this year wandering around the enclosure. When you get up close to Giraffes, you can really see how awkwardly shaped they are. Everyone loves them though. They are one of Ethan's (and my) favorites, we can't come to the Zoo and not see them!

Up next, the Polar Bears! There are two or three of these huge creatures at our Zoo. Usually we don't see them doing anything except trying to escape the heat! This time, one was swimming and this one looked like he was going to jump off a rock onto his buddy in the water. He chickend out.

We usually don't get to the Sea Lion exibit before feeding/demo time but this visit, we made it. Our friend, Jenny got this great shot!

The Elephants weren't out in their enclosure so we thought we missed them but we went inside their building and got to watch them get baths and a check-up. They also fed them some carrots, you'd be amazed how much those trunks stretch when they want something that is nearly out of reach!

I made two fatal mistakes on the first visit of the year. First, I asked Ethan if he'd like to ride the Carousel. Seems innocent enough but we used to be able to walk by it without him looking twice. Now, we have to walk so it is no where in sight or we are forced to wait in line for a ride. It is usually well worth it though, he loves going up and down, up and down, up and down...it's the waiting that is hard!

Every time we sailed past our friend Jenny, Ethan would smile and wave like crazy. Thankfully she was there with camera in hand to capture these sorts of shots. These make it worthwhile.

Second fatal mistake: asking if he'd like to ride the train. For those of you who don't know Ethan or don't have a boy about his age, let me tell you he LOVES trains. We waited in line to ride this train for at least 30 minutes. The train came and left 3 times before we got to ride and that is really tough on a 2 year old who just doesn't get the whole wait your turn thing. We all had a great time on the train and we'll probably be forced to avoid that part of the Zoo if I don't want to ride it in the future!

Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, that is our friend Jenny's son Devyn in the green striped shirt. He's 3, almost 4 and they live just a few doors down from us so he and Ethan get together to fight oh, I mean play, once a week or so. They are still learning to play together....I hear it takes time.