Tuesday, September 11, 2007

We're Going to The Zoo, The Henry Vilas Zoo

Back to Wisconsin. Like I said, we didn't laze about the whole trip. One day we met Gabe and Betsy, with their children, Griffin and Jordan, at the Zoo in Madison. The free zoo!


We saw bison, lions, seals,
prairie dogs
a badger
an ostrich
a black bear and a polar bear!


We had sno-cones!


We fed goats.


Hungry, hungry goats!


The nice thing about a free is zoo is no one feels pressured to see everything and do everything.


Without the pressure, there's time to sit and reflect, sketch. No hurries. No worries.


Geoff remembers this zoo from his childhood. I love visiting places he recalls fondly. Here's the bubbler he remembers. Bubbler? A bubbler is where water bubbles up for a cool drink. A fountain is where you throw a coin and make wishes. Wisconsin talk... I love it.

Time to check our primate arm-span:

Griffin, age 5 and quite a primate!


Max, age 9... ready to climb and swing!


William, age 16 ... a good sport for his mom. Ahh.


Alex is 13 and also humoring his mom. Thanks son.


Maria is 2 and she's a monkey girl for sure!


Jordan! One more 2 year old monkey girl!

Before we left, we had two bear encounters that were really awesome. First the polar bear sniffed the air from deep inside her lair and then she slowly, cautiously stepped out in to the late afternoon heat.


Max reminded us about a polar bear's remarkable sense of smell and their unique distinction from most animals, they think humans are tasty.


In the enclosure next door we met the black bear. He looked big. Who remembers? One kind of bear will chase you if you run, so you are supposed to stand your ground and another kind you should run from? Which is which? Might be good to know.

There's more Wisconsin to come, like quilts and the football game and tamale pie...

5 comments:

Jeanne said...

What a fun day at the zoo. I have family in West Bend who love to visit the animals, also.

Tracy said...

Thank you for taking us to the zoo along with you... I had a great time! ;o) ((HUGS))

nikkipolani said...

That goat looked like it wanted to make a mouthful of Maria! Great pics, as usual, Natalie :-)

tea time and roses said...

I just love the zoo... The photos are just beautiful, and so is that polar bear...

Smiles...

Beverly

Tarie said...

Weee! Fun. :) I want a sno-cone now...