Zoo Day

This week is Travis' spring break, and to make the most of it, we've been trying to get some things done around the house, as well as do some fun things out of the house as a family. Today was a family fun day, so we headed to the Zoo. The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has a wonderful Rainforest exhibit, filled with plants and animals from Africa, South America and Asia. It also happens to be nice and warm, so it was perfect for a cold Ohio day!

Travis and Grace at the RainForest entrance:


There's a beautiful simulated waterfall right when you walk in the doors, which, combined with the vibrant rainforest plants, makes you feel like you really are in a rainforest!


(Notice Grace reaching out to touch the plants =) )


One of our favorite exhibits was the turtle and gharial (a crocodile-like animal) exhibit. It was SO neat to see the turtles from an underwater view (and so close!), just lazily swimming about and playfully interacting with each other.

Here's Grace and Travis looking at a fish exhibit. I think Grace especially liked the water exhibits because they reminded her of a bath (which she loves!). =)

After looking at the frogs, snakes, turtles, lizards, and fish downstairs, we headed upstairs to see the monkeys, orangutans, otters, and birds.

A couple of the little monkeys scurried down the branch to say hello to Grace:

Our other favorite exhibit was the orangutans. I've always had a soft spot for orangutans since seeing them at the Zoo with my dad when I was a kid, but this experience was extra special because we got to see a baby orangutan and learn some interesting things about them from the zoo keeper (like how female orangutans have 1 baby at a time, 5-8 years apart (so only 4 or so per lifetime); or how orangutan's grow at a rate similar to humans; or how they have about a 40 year lifespan).

Here is the Bornean orangutan mom and her (4 year old) baby (her 3rd):

And the orangutan dad (back facing) next to his (9 year old) daughter (in the foreground), and the mom (in the background).

These orangutans are especially interesting because, unlike typical groups of orangutans (where the male mates indiscriminately and the females raise the babies), this group lives in a family-like unit. Knowing this made seeing the baby oranguatan eat from his father's hand or wrestle and climb on his dad such a unique and special experience. (Sadly, these beautiful creatures are extremely endangered.)

We were so grateful, not only for the chance to be together, but for the incredible opportunity we had to see these animals that we never would have had the chance to in the wild, and to appreciate God's amazing creations.

Now on to more family fun!