Winter Mornings At the Zoo

As much as I talk about wanting to move back to Minnesota, I have to admit Colorado is pretty amazing. It has to be one of the best spots in the entire USA for weather. Summers aren't too hot and lack the oppressive humidity of other areas. And even on a super hot day, you can drive one hour into the mountains for far cooler weather. And the winters. Oh. My. God. After living through Minnesota winters (four of them in northern MN, yikes!), these mild Colorado winters feel amazing. It rarely gets below zero and snow doesn't stick around until April. Plus, it is no joke or exaggeration when they brag about 300 days of sunshine here. It's unusual not to see the sun at some point any given day.

So, when we have winter weekends like this where highs are in the upper 50s and the sun is shining, it's a crime not to get out and enjoy it. Lately, the zoo has been our preferred destination. It seems like we always get our best animal viewing on warm winter mornings. The last two times we've gone with some friends of ours and their two kids. The three kids span from 23 months to 4.5 years, so we've got a nice little preschool gang that really enjoy themselves.

Taking a break from all the walking

Riding the carousel

Weehaw!

Yesterday we had a rather traumatic day however. As we watched some African deer, we noticed that people were really excited about the kangaroos. We walked over to find one large kangaroo running in circles around its enclosure. Usually the kangaroos are all sleeping, so this was a real treat. Suddenly a second kangaroo started jumping too, which luckily distracted Noah and I from the following unfortunate event. The bigger kangaroo apparently skidded out on some sand or ice and slammed to the ground on a small concrete slab. I finally noticed once everyone started gasping. The poor guy struggled to right himself, and once he did he was holding his left arm delicately. People started whispering to each other and a few people ran to talk to a young man who appeared to work at the zoo. Then, the kangaroo let go of his arm, and we could all plainly see that his arm bone had completely snapped and his paw was just dangling. Blood was pouring from the wound. He kept trying to lick it as all the other kangaroos gathered to check on him. Brian ran to tell a zoo worker who had a radio, and she called in the concern. When the care takers entered the pen, their jaws just dropped. It was seriously the saddest thing I've ever witnessed. I sure hope they're able to take care of the poor thing. Aside from that shaking experience, we really did enjoy ourselves, as always.

Watching the penguins

Feeding time with the gorillas

Climbing the hippos

If only weekends like these could last forever!