Monday, June 3, 2013

buffalo zoo trip

Is everyone back on track with action-packed weekends? I find there is almost too much to blog about come spring into summer. This weekend was Owen’s first soccer practice of the year. He’s on team ‘Squirrels’ and is really pumped up about being part of a team sport. He took part in soccer last year, but I would never recommend signing a 2 year old for a team sport like soccer unless you’re looking for loads of comical stories to fill your child’s scrapbooks. Some of Owen’s antics included running off in the middle of the game to play in the playground, laying down and pretending to fall asleep in the goalie net, not listening to the coach pretty much all the time unless he calls “Snack Time” and repeatedly running off to see mom & dad through the entire practice. This year is a total turnaround in mindset. He’s actively listening, participating and trying hard. And as a parent, the best part of signing your kids up for extracurricular activities is seeing the sense of accomplishment and happiness on their faces. We’re really pleased with his efforts in soccer and swim classes.

We also took some time this weekend to visit the Buffalo Zoo – for the first time ever! As a Buffa-lover I was pleasantly surprised with how inexpensive it is to visit. I also loved the size of this zoo, it’s easily walk-able that you can make at least 2 rounds with little effort.

However, I felt like this zoo has probably seen better days. Unless it’s a conscious effort to make the grounds look as wild as they are, they could probably use a few more people on their grounds crew taming the overgrown areas. My grandmother told me that the Buffalo Zoo was one of the best in the nation back when she had small kids. It definelty has parts that are maintained but do not seem to have haven’t been renovated since its heyday. But there are quite a few sponsored areas that are extremely well maintained, notably a wonderful playground built by Fisher Price. Owen played for at least 45 minutes straight with all the other kids leaving Nuno and I nothing to do but sit back on a shaded park bench enjoying the gorgeous weather.


 But what’s most important about this zoo are the animals and the selection was incredible!

The zoo has just started to display it’s new polar bear cub, who was the star attraction of the day.

Owen, Nuno and I marveled at the silverback gorilla family and the rhinos.

I packed a picnic of Toasted Turkey Sandwich and Quick Pickles we enjoyed in Delaware Park before the projected thunderstorm arrived. We made it to the car just in time to avoid the torrential downpour. Talk about luck!

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