Teen Mom NYC: Zoo Day!!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Zoo Day!!

Today I took Leilani and Damien to the Central Park Zoo. This was the first time that my nephew went as well as the first time that we went to the children's "zoo," which is basically a feeding and petting zoo.
I don't really do petting zoos because I think they are horribly disgusting.

PENGUINS

In true Gloria spirit I didn't tell the kids where we where going [because everything is better as a surprise!!]. We arrived at the zoo and saw the Sea Lions and Monkeys right away then we saw the tropical animals. Inside the tropical section of the zoo there were lots of birds, which I'm terrified of, snakes, frogs, mongoose and one they were especially excited about, BATS!! My nephew's favorite book is Stellaluna so he was very excited to see bats in action. We then saw a Panda, Polar Bear, a Sea Otter. Then we saw a Snow Leopard that had just killed a squirrel so the zoo keepers removed him from view. It was pretty awesome actually because the squirrel was still in the Snow Leopards mouth and face it it's more exciting to see zoo animals doing what they are naturally built to do instead of lay under a tree all day.
One thing I like to do is turn everything into a learning experience so whenever we saw a new animal I would tell the children facts about the animal's habitat, diet and life. Then when we walk from one animal to another I would "quiz" them about the animals we have seen. The snow leopard helped me really teach the circle of life ;).
The last few animals we saw were penguins which the children and I were very excited to see, because they are just so full of life and attitude!

Next we went to the petting zoo where the kids fed and pet a sheep, goat, alpaca and some other sheep/goat-esk animal. Leilani was a bit afraid to feed the animals but Damien dove right in, as usual. Leilani finally fed and pet the animals but then said she wanted to leave and wash her hands because the animal got her hand all dirty! We washed our hands and left the petting zoo.

Petting the animals

Feeding the animals

Upon leaving the zoo there are always face painters and balloons. So I got both of the kids a balloon and their faces painted, which they loved! We then walked over the Whole Foods and grocery shopped.