Kids and a Kitty at the Zoo

I took the kids to the zoo today.  Last time I did, I apparently was unaware that they had a strong desire to do the carousel, and they didn't ask until the very end when we were out of time.  So this time I made it a priority, and we did it first thing.

They offered us a map on our way in, so Clara decided she was going to navigate us by using it.  She studied it for a bit, was confused, and then decided to take a close look, as you can see.  It didn't help.

I decided to take over the navigation, and after that things went better.  We stopped by the elephant area, but then I wanted to go to the Africa area, which I hadn't been to before.  I was hoping to do this via the Africa Sky Safari, which is basically a ski lift that takes you over the entire Africa section, so you can look down and see the animals.  You can fit one adult and two kids on the chair.  I of course had three kids with me, but I was hoping I could have Hannah sit on my lap, and the lady at the Sky Safari ticket booth (although our season tickets make it free for us) said she wasn't sure and that it would be up to the ride operator.  When we got to the front, he said we couldn't do it, so we were out of luck on the Sky Safari, which made the kids, especially Clara, pretty upset, despite the fact that I had warned them that it might not be possible.  So we just walked there, which is kind of a long walk, but much of the way has exhibits, including the one you see here that appears to be a domesticated kitty in a zoo.  I don't remember what they called it, but it wasn't a house cat and was apparently some sort of actual wild animal, which is surprising given how adorable it is.  Then you can also see how we saw more traditional African wildlife, like this cheetah.

I don't remember what Clara was talking about here, but she clearly had a strong opinion about something related to this exhibit.

There are a few random stone statues throughout the zoo, and this was one of them.  I'm guessing I wasn't the first parent to insist that their kids pose for a picture on it.

The zoo was closing at that point, so we had to make our way back to the entrance, but I stopped to try to take a picture of the four of us, and got a series of crazy and fun pictures.  We had a really fun time today, and it was great that the weather was so great to be able to do this even in November.