Today we took Katlyn and Ashton to the Tucson Zoo. We really love this zoo. It's inexpensive and it is smaller so it is easy for the kids to walk through the whole zoo. They have great animals with shade throughout the zoo.
When we got to the zoo we went to see the tiger. The tiger saw the kids and immediately came over to see the kids.
This tiger is really beautiful.
The zoo keepers were feeding the wart hogs. It was fun to watch them eat.
Katlyn liked the elephants this picture is when we first got to the zoo. When we were leaving the zoo we were able to see the elephants eat their afternoon snack. The zoo keepers froze 5 gallon barrels of water and vegetables. The elephants would use their trunk and tusks to pick up the buket and get the ice/vegetable mixture out. Then the elephants would toss the ice around until it broke into chunks. If the chunks were too big the elephant would step on it to crush the ice. It was fascinating to watch.
Katlyn and the elephant statue.
There were different hands on exhibits at the zoo today. Katlyn and Ashton were able to touch an elephant's tooth, tail hair and feel the callus that is taken off of the bottom of their feet each day. Here is Ashton holding one tooth. The elephants only have four teeth.
The kids were also able to feed the giraffes. They really enjoyed this activity. They said it felt funny to have the giraffe's tongue on their hand as it took the biscuit.
Here is Toto the giraffe enjoying a biscuit from Ashton.
The giraffes loved the treats. Look at Toto's long, black tongue.
Katlyn & Ashton with Toto. They look a little nervous with the giraffe, but they really enjoyed feeding him. It was neat being so close to the giraffes. I wanted to feed them myself.
We love the polar bear exhibit. It is probably our favorite spot. This polar bear loves to swim and play in the water and is very entertaining. He was floating around on his back today.
Ashton checking out the polar bear from the bottom view of the exhibit.
Katlyn was amazed at how big the polar bear paw was compared to her hand.
This tortoise was enjoying his hay. He was enormous!
We were also able to pet a hedge hog today. Aaron and I had never seen one before and were fascinated by it. The prickles felt weird and they said they are made of material similar to our fingernails. 
Katlyn loved petting the snake. She thought it was really cool and wanted to see it again.
Ashton and Katlyn pointing out the flamingos.
The kids also enjoyed playing on the playground after lunch.
There is a place where the kids can play in the water. Here is Ashton checking out some of the water features.
Katlyn liked pumping the water.
Katlyn & Ashton playing in the water.
Katlyn saved her banana until the monkey exhibit. When we got there she took out her banana and the monkeys came running over. One even reached his hand out of the cage for the banana. We didn't feed the monkeys, but they sure wanted a banana.
Two of the monkeys hanging out and grooming each other.
Katlyn pretending she was being hatched from an egg.
Ashton decided to do a more serious pose in the egg.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Tucson Zoo
Pizza Time
We had some visitors this weekend. Our niece and nephew came to visit and we had a great time. We went to the pool and played with the water toys and then when we came home Aaron had pizza dough ready for us to make pizza.
The kids enjoyed my dough tossing techniques I picked up from my mom. My mom tosses the dough better than I do, but I am learning.
Katlyn working on her dough.
Ashton was very particular about rolling and tossing his dough. He is a very hard worker and very intent on performing a good job.
He made his dough look like a baby chick.
Katlyn with her pizza ready for the stove. Notice Ashton in the background eating the toppings. He enjoyed dipping the pepperoni with a piece of cheese in the sauce. By the time his pizza was done he was stuffed just by munching on the toppings.
Ashton putting on his toppings.
Katlyn and Aaron with the finished product. This was a great activity with the kids. We all had a great time making homemade pizza. Thanks Aaron! It was delicious!!
Ashton with his finished pizza. Like I said he only had a few bites because he was stuffed from the toppings.
After dinner we watched princess stories. The kids were pretty tired after their long day and so were we. We sure enjoyed spending time with them. When it was bed time the kids picked out books and Katlyn read to us for a little it. She is such a good reader! I can't believe how big the kids are getting. Thanks for spending time with us Katlyn and Ashton and please come back soon!
