Be-ba's, Big Nose & Po Bear...oh my!

The weekend forecast calls for cloudy gray skies and rain Saturday and Sunday. So Amy & I celebrated the boys' 2nd birthday a couple days early by taking Owen & Gus to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. Today was a gorgeous day with blue skies, temperatures in the mid 60's, and two boys who couldn't get enough of all the animals.

"Be-ba's! Be-ba's!"



"Big nose!"



Cool dude insisted on wearing his shades before getting his photo snapped in front of Big Nose.




The giraffe was the first animal we saw as we walked into the zoo so I think the boys were just getting revved up. No comment from the boys on the big giraffe.



"Night night, lion."



The chimp statues were much more popular with the boys than the actual chimpanzees. In fact, Gus parked it on his can right by the chimp statues and wouldn't leave. He was content to stay there for the rest of the day if we would have let him. Here is Owen holding the hand of the "chee-ump."




The highlight of the zoo was easily the polar bear. The zoo rescued the two polar bears a few years ago from a circus in Mexico that had mistreated them. And while it can get pretty hot in North Carolina, the zoo keeps the water temperature in the 50's and gives the bears plenty of room to swim. Today, this bear was putting on a show for all the guests -- diving down into the water, swimming up to the window, and kicking off with a relaxing back stroke. The boys absolutely loved the "po bear."





The sea lions were popular too, swimming gracefully up to the window for all the people to admire. Although Owen seemed to think this one was chasing him.




The tortoise was bigger than Gus and Owen combined so the boys kept a safe distance until they saw what slow movers the tortoises were.




After seeing so many animals, the boys paused for a picture with Mom....




...and a juice break on a bench with Dad.



The second highlight at the zoo was the kids' zone, where kids have room to run free from their parents and paint walls and sidewalks with water. You can never go wrong playing with water.



This rare species of highly evolved "chee-ump" is quite demanding and energetic. Luckily they can be coaxed into submission with the sight of a sandbox and some shovels.




The trip wrapped up with a ride on the bus back to the parking lot. The bus is now the preferred method of transportation for our two young zoo-goers.



We didn't make it out of the parking lot before this young po bear was crashed out. What a day!

Cheers!