A Zoo at the Zoo?

 

On Labor Day we took the boys to the zoo. Crazy, I know, the zoo on Holidays is... well ... a zoo.

However, even when packed the San Francisco Zoo is civilized. It could be that the zoo is well planned, or it could be that the droves of people were somewhere else (we didn't make it to arachnids or reptiles).  Either way, we had an absolutely perfect day at the zoo on Monday.

The weather was gorgeous. Even when the rest of San Francisco is chilly, the zoo tends to be slightly warmer. The boys were in shorts and t-shirts, and everyone was comfortable. Xander and Caleb have also finally reached an age where they want to see the animals. Back in the day (earlier this year) they just wanted to ride the Little Puffer, and go to the petting zoo.

The animals were in rare form too. In our first few moments at the zoo, the giraffe came right up to the fence, bent down and began drinking water. The otters came right up to the window to greet the spectators too, and the leopard was sleeping against the glass.

We also lucked out with our timing. We saw the otters, penguins, and seal all get fed.

We arrived at the San Francisco Zoo just before noon. The paid parking lot was filled up, so we parked on Sloat. There is usually plenty of free parking on Sloat, but due to the Holiday we ended with a fairly long walk. At this point we were thinking that maybe the zoo was a mistake. We were wrong.

We brought the double stroller, and convinced the boys to ride in it until we got to the zoo. They happily complied which was good for everyone concerned.

Our friend got us a membership for Xander's 4th birthday, so we bypassed the line (about 15 people deep) and headed right to the entrance.

Xander and Caleb had already compiled their wish list ... giraffes and zebras, monkeys, lions and tigers, and bears, and then ride the choo choo train.  We managed to accomplish the wish list without a meltdown. Caleb did have a meltdown when we left the zoo at 4 pm, and then napped the whole way home.

The boys can't wait to go back to the zoo. I think we'll do Boo at the Zoo around Halloween.