Vulture Day at the Zoo

I had a ton of school work to do on Saturday, so Gunner headed off to the zoo with the kids. I had forgotten it was vulture day, but the kids were excited and got to see what the stomach contents of a vulture looked like, flight feathers, and lots more. The kids loved it, and Gunner loves the zoo, so it worked out.


They found eggs, and had to try out each part.

Hanging out with the bronze animals.

A gigantic chair.

Another egg view.

We thought it would wear them out, but it didn't seem to phase Abs. Em went off to the balloon festival with a friend, and we put the little kids to bed. Abs snuck out and grabbed Chris' iPhone. He stood outside her room, and she cried out in disbelief "How did this get in here?". No idea Abs. Then I checked my email and she had requested me to be in Gunner's mafia on the phone. She cracks me up.

Stay home all weekend?

For not being very social people, we sure don't stay home very much. My neighbor told me that she gets tired from seeing us run around all day and then take the kids outside to play. Me too!

Saturday we ran errands, visited the local thrift shops again looking for chicken soup bowls. We looked at furniture since I have new table fever (last one is 15 years old and has a crack down the middle, it's time!). We took a long bike ride. So long in fact that Em quit about halfway through. We need to work on her stamina. Granted it is pretty hilly!

Sunday we decided to head to the local zoo. I'm not a big zoo person, but when we were stationed at Fort Lewis, we got a yearly pass and visited all the time because it kept the kids entertained, outside, and happy. The yearly passes at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo are $87 for a family, and there's a $10 discount if you are military. Considering it would have cost close to $50 for a one day visit, we just have to visit the zoo twice in order to pay for the pass. I can imagine that we will spend much more time there.

Your pass also gets you into the Shrine, which we didn't have time to visit. As soon as you enter the zoo, you see the giraffes.

You can buy crackers to feed the giraffes at 3 for $1. Thank goodness we only have three kids.
They divide the zoo up into different regions, and include the types of houses that they have there. Of course Junior had to explore them all.
Even Abs got in on the action. (Yes, I let her go out in public without matching. I have given up.)
We took a dozen shots trying to get everyone to look at the camera.
Forced them into another group photo. One day I am sure they will thank me...or need therapy, but I am hoping it will be a thanks.

We hung out with the wallaby people for a while. I bet they had never met three children that asked so many questions.
Made friends with a giant bear.
We rode the sky tram. I hate heights.
But everyone else had a good time.
We rode it up. And down. And up. And down. Apparently you can ride it as much as you want after you purchase the tickets. It was $17 for the 5 of us, after showing our new zoo card. Not something we will do very often, but fun.
I couldn't even get them to look at me. But with a view like this, who can blame them?


You have to dismount every time you reach the top or the bottom, so more time for family shots. (Maybe one day I will make a shot!)

The end result was that Junior couldn't stay awake while he ate his cheerios.
We ended the day with a run by Whole Foods to pick up dinner and artichokes.
It was good, but it did require me to get a long run in the next day. In the meantime I am trying to find a good book about seeing Colorado with kiddos, so if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.