World of the Wilsons: Eli's 1st Trip to the Zoo

Last Friday, Eli and I drove to Monroe, LA, to meet Pop and Grammy for a fun filled day at the Louisiana Purchase Zoo. We had so much fun! I LOVE going to zoos and seeing all the different animals. I've only been to one zoo in Louisiana and that was the Alexandria Zoo. It's okay, but it isn't anything like the zoo I went to growing up. My family and I always went to Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, TX. Mom and I actually already made plans to take Eli there this summer.

The Louisiana Purchase Zoo was actually a very nice zoo. They had a lot more animals than I thought they would and the park was a lot larger than it looked. Eli did great, despite the fact that he hadn't had a nap the entire day. He loved walking around and looking at the animals with Grammy and Pop, running from cage to cage, eating his Slush Puppy, and trying to say the animals' names. He never once acted cranky or upset. He was so good! The boat tour at the end of our trip to the zoo was such a nice, relaxing way to end our special day. We can't wait to do it again!

My favorite bird, the flamingo
Mom and I kind of laughed though because the flamingo on the right wasn't as committed to the whole standing on one leg as the others were.

Ring-tailed lemurs from Madagascar

Notice Eli's hands...he's doing his sign for "more" to the monkeys.

Eli and his Pop

The first of many peacocks we met that day while walking around the zoo.

Insect World

Watching how the pincers work

Showing Eli how to climb the ropes

Pop helping Eli climb

After a couple tries, he finally managed to get the hang of it.

A bug's eye view of the world....

What a sweet, sweet boy!

Crawling through the kid access passage they had in every room.

My favorite zoo pal!

Shirley, the hippo

GEAUX TIGERS!

Eli's favorite thing to do all day...sit on the railing and kick his feet against the metal gate underneath. Glad we made some fun memories. :)

My favorite little monkey :)

Watching the large tortoise

Eli kept saying, "Hi, tuh-tuh!"

We found a worm on the ground, so I gave it to Eli and he gave it to the "tuh-tuh".
The "tuh-tuh" must have been a vegetarian though...no meat for him.

Anaconda....ewwww!

Walking on the brick walls with Grammy

Another peacock that was just walking around the zoo.

Ahh, the perfect way to end a busy day at the zoo...a blue raspberry Slush Puppy!

The start of the boat tour

Eli decided that while the captain was collecting the tickets for the boat ride, he would hold down the fort, I mean, boat, for him. He loved sitting in the captain's chair and turning the wheel.

He wasn't too keen on Mommy helping because she wouldn't keep her hands off his shirt.
She was convinced he might fall or something.
He was fine with a little help from Pop though....go figure!