Trip to the Zoo!

On Saturday we went on a family outing to the National Zoo in DC. We had clear, sunny weather but it was also very, very cold.

Note how cold I look.

We had a blast despite the temperature. It was fun to see all the exhibits, and I'm amazed that having spent three hours there we only saw about half of what they have to offer. JR was an exceptional trouper. He barely fussed, and that was only just right before conking out. Our camera died halfway through our excursion, so the last three were captured by my not-so-fancy cell phone. I hope you enjoy another one of my pictorial blog posts! 

 Red panda. I liked these critters a lot. Very playful, and look like raccoons.

 I never saw a giant panda up close before. This was really cool.

 The elephants were the first animals at the zoo JR took a liking to. Him pointing at the fascinating world around him never gets old. 

 A close-up shot of one of the elephants. I had to carefully crop this picture due to the excessive doo-doo. :)

 I love this age!

 An indoor shot of the giant panda. They sure like bamboo!

 An indoor shot of the red panda.

 Lunch was...

 ...chilly.

The small mammals exhibit was great.

 A lemur's crazy stare.

 Primates have such striking features.

The monkey is grooming Glen the Sloth. This was pretty funny to watch. Not all sloths are as laid back. The female sloth (whom I could not spot) wants nothing to do with these little monkeys.

I shall call these two primates John and Ted.

 The gorillas exhibit was really neat . Here is a baby and a male. The male was pretty cranky. He flipped out when the baby approached him.

 So the lady gorillas don't feel left out, here is one of about five females.

JR admiring the gorillas.

Dad being goofy.

This tortoise was brought to the zoo as an adult in 1956. They can live up to 150 years. Like whoa...

This is a picture of JR's favorite creatures at the zoo: long-necked sea turtles. He lit up so much when we put him close to the aquarium glass. What was crazy was when he started waving and playing they swarmed around where he was. It was so neat. That was a memory both Joey and I will take with us for a long time. 

 We tired him out, ladies and gentlemen. He slept from the zoo, through the walk to the metro station, the ride on the metro, and the stroll to the car. Good job, JR. Thank you for being such a great lil' guy.