did you know?

Did you know that the zoo closes at 5?
Do zoos everywhere close at 5?

We didn't know this.
We planned all day to go after naps. And of course, this day, the kids chose to sleep extra long.
But at the time, we didn't see this as a huge problem.

We got them ALL pumped up to go....Taylor's only request was that we DO NOT see the monkeys again (one of them attacked the glass in rage RIGHT at Mason's face last time)...I was even scared, you can only imagine Mason. And obviously Taylor was bothered by it too).

We arrived at 4:57...and I thought to myself "there sure are a lot of people leaving the zoo at the same time"

When we reached the ticket counter, my heart sank. March-October the zoo closes at 5pm. That just seems so early, doesn't it? There are still several hours of daylight!

OH NO! What now? Dave asked if we could just go in really quick (ONLY because of our pass, otherwise we would have never paid to do this). I assumed we'd run in, see the flamingos which are RIGHT by the entrance and leave. But there were still LOTS of people filing out, so why not just go in the opposite direction of all the traffic until someone stops us?

We tried the petting zoo....until the sign "Farm Animals released to pasture for the night"

Dave thought we should try to get back and see the Tigers...it's a brand new exhibit the opened TODAY and the big reason we went. I was afraid if we tried to get back there, we wouldn't be successful and then have to leave and not see anything. I thought we were safer trying to see what we can see close....so at least the kids would be satisfied.

We saw lots of geese families...


We got a MAJOR close-up of Mr. Elephant...

I just kept looking at Dave and asking "do we try to go further?"

I think the giraffes were headed in for dinner...

And this guy was quite close too, he just stared at us......until he did something very inappropriate.

We were getting closer and closer to the tigers...still no one to tell us to leave, and still seeing others walking towards the exit. We figured at anytime we could turn around and join the exiting crowd...but didn't want to join them till we had to.

The tiger exhibit was in sight!!!
And so was the zoo keeper lady on her golf cart.
We finally had to turn around and head out....slowly.

We were SOOOO close, but too late. Luckily the kids did not really know where we were headed or why. They were happy with all the animals on the way.

So Dave was right...we could have walked STRAIGHT to the tigers, and then have seen all these other animals on the way out. But I wasn't expecting to get 30 minutes at the zoo either. But it's way better than 3!!!

Taylor almost had a meltdown in the parking lot until I told her that the restaurant we were going to would give us some chips! Thank you On the Border!!!

So, in case you didn't know before...now you know the zoo closes at 5. Plan accordingly.