Como Zoo

One Sunday in the middle of August, we took a trip to Como Zoo a couple hours before closing time. It was the first nice day after a string of scorchers, and apparently everyone else had the same idea, because despite the late hour, parking was a nightmare. Once we were inside, though, it was not too crowded at all and we had a great time. As Geoff said, "This is the nicest free zoo I've ever been to." (Even the parking was free--it was a good deal.) Cora had a great time walking around to see all the animals, and has talked about it repeatedly ever since. Hazel had a good time going along for the ride.

Flamingos:
Seals:
Giraffes:
(Cora's grandparents gave her the rubber band bracelets. I think these ones are shaped like dinosaurs. Every night she hangs them on the doorknob of her bedroom, and every morning she puts them back on.)


Lions:

Tigers:

Bears:Cora looks appropriately shocked. This thing was bigger and scarier than you can see in this picture. It was easy to see that it would absolutely eat you given half a chance.

Geoff and Cora at the polar bear exhibit:

We were very close to this ostrich--just a couple feet away. Cora asked, "Dad, is that a real animal?" We were so close and it's such an odd creature, I'm not surprised she suspected it was somehow fake:

Zebras, of course:
The conservatory, full of green things even in the middle of winter. We will visit it another day: