Spending the morning at the Los Angeles Zoo

It's the weekend and we're going to Disneyla... Wait! What's this? Someplace new?
That's right. We're visiting a different part of LA today. To start, let's check out the Los Angeles Zoo!

All of this starts I guess with the 2018 Pasadena Chalk Festival. Ruston and I won an award for our recreation of Herbie, and apart from being recognized we also received a bunch of prizes.

And the best of those prizes was a certificate for a family membership to the Los Angeles Zoo! Let's go!

Maps in hand and ready to go! We made sure we were there right at the 10am opening. Plenty of parking and the crowds are light.

Instead of hanging at the front of the park, we made a bee-line for the back of the park and had a good 30 minutes before the crowds started showing up. Smile everyone!

Nearby the chimps were hanging out together enjoying the morning.

Everyone was sitting by the water, enjoying the morning sunshine.

Except this guy who found a handful of carrots and a tall perch to enjoy them on.

Reminds me of some other kids I know.

That whoop (collective noun for a bunch of chimpanzees) of chimps came down in front of the viewing window while the kids waved at them.

That's what I'm talking about. Carrots and cucumbers. They love them too.

Daddy I see an elephant!

Looking at the Okapi, Alli thought he looked "dirty". Needs to wash that brown layer off the top so he looks like a zebra.

And just wandering around on the path was a peacock.

One of the things we wanted to make sure we didn't miss was the giraffe feeding.

$5 gets you a ticket.

While waiting for the group ahead of us to go, we learned that we're feeding Zanabu, and we also got to feel some giraffe hair.

First up is Ian. He's an old pro at this after doing it in San Diego. He says he remembers it, even though he was just under 3. For that $5, you get 3 sprigs of leaves to feed them. Better than the $10 for 3 biscuits at the San Diego Zoo I suppose.

Awesome!

Alli, are you going to do it all by yourself? Brave girl!
Standing on her tiptoes so she can reach.

She loved it too.

Quick video of the encounter. Not the best because I was doing double-duty, taking photos and trying to get video.

Time for lunch and dessert.

The lions were sleepy, but at least they were out where you could see them. And the female has her leg resting on the male.

The tigers were really active and a lot of fun to watch.

Checking out the snow leopard.

Don't stick your tongue out at me.

Getting a good look Alli?

The giant otters were really vocal and having a good time swimming in the water.

There's one more place we have to visit before we go. I knew Ian would be excited but I wasn't so sure about Alli. It's the reptile and amphibian house! Let's go see some snakes!

A newt! (I got better)

Ian was really into it.

Loving those snakes and getting right up to the glass.

Posing with the snake statue.

And getting a kick out of all the little baby venomous snakes.

It's been a fun day at the Los Angeles Zoo, but we're not through yet!