A few Fridays back, John and I took the boys to the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston. We're determined to soak up the last few weeks of summer, and since Judah is in a season of animal obsession (anything large with teeth!) this was the perfect family activity! Boston is an easy drive south and we snagged a discounted pass from our city library.
I have to admit I harbored low expectations for this outing, partly because we were going with a baby and a toddler . . . so that is unpredictable, and also because I had no idea if this zoo would be worthwhile or not. Let me tell you, I was overjoyed . . . the zoo is very well-done, clean, and engaging. Judah was enthralled with all the animals and exhibits to the point that he didn't ask to sit in the stroller once (both boys slept the entire drive home- ha!)
Before our outing, Judah and I read "Ellie" by Mike Wu (one of our favorite Pixar artists!), since it's one of the sweetest storybooks about zoo animals and a particularly artistic elephant ;) There are no elephants at the Franklin Park Zoo, but Judah was not disappointed because he was so distracted by the lions, monkeys, zebras, ostriches, and giraffes!
Judah peering at the little monkeys, after a somewhat frightening look at the gorilla pen. Make no mistake, these are wild animals, which is sort of easy to forget when you're gazing at them protected by glass walls. One of the gorillas ran right up to the glass and threw a pile of hay right in front of where little Judah was standing! Totally safe of course, but it was enough to really shake him up. The tiny monkeys seemed more his speed after that incident, poor kiddo.
We probably only made it through 75% of the animal exhibits that morning; there was just so much to see! Judah has already asked to return about 4,000 times since this trip, and we had so much fun that we'll definitely be visiting again in the near future!
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