SoCal December 2013: The San Diego Zoo

On Saturday morning, we drove to San Diego to spend the day at the zoo.  Wade and I had been back in April 2008, and were anxious to go back with our three kiddos in tow.  :)

The zoo was decorated for Christmas and their theme was "Jungle Bells."  Super cute! 

 

Owen fell just as the boys were getting situated to take a picture.  Poor fella.  I tried to console him, but he was sad.  :(

Here's the thing about the San Diego Zoo:  It is amazing - such an awesome experience!  But... it is laid out really strange and there are TONS of huge hills.  So, we spent a lot of time looking at the map to make sure we weren't pushing the mammoth double stroller and 70 pounds of kids in vain.  Ha!  Drew was our little navigator - he had to have his own map and took great delight in telling us which way to go.  One of the zookeepers even told us that the map makes more sense if you turn it upside down.  Hmmm....  It was still confusing to us.

The boys loved seeing a red panda just like the one that Daddy got to hold when he was in China.

They had a baby panda that is 1 1/2 years old.  He was so cute with his Mama.

I remember loving the flamingos as a little girl.  I still think they are beautiful.  Stinky, but beautiful nonetheless.  ;)

I think that the polar bears were all of our favorite.  There were two - male/female twins born in 2000.  The male was much larger than the female and stood at almost 10 feet tall.  They put on a show for us - playing and playing.  They were so fun to watch!

They had an area outside of the polar bear exhibit to show how a polar bear grows.  Here is Owen with a newborn cub.

This is the size of a one year old polar bear.

This is an adult male - 10 feet tall.

The boys had fun playing in the seal habitat.

A reindeer - fitting for our Christmas visit.  :)

Wade and I got so tickled by this sign.  We are soooo mature.  ;)

I loved the koala bears.  So adorable!

Owen was such a trooper on this trip!  He did better than I could have ever dreamed that he would do!  He took good naps in his stroller and was so sweet.  He was the MVP of the trip, for sure!  It could have been a miserable vacation if he had not done so well. 

We all really enjoyed the San Diego Zoo.  It is a top notch zoo, for sure.  I'm so glad that the boys got to experience it!  We left at 3:00ish to have a little downtime at the hotel and rest up for the next portion of the trip.  Here we come, Mickey!