Cleveland Zoo Trip

Friday before last, the sky above gave us a brief respite from the unrelenting snowfall we have been enduring and the sun actually came out from behind the grey clouds! We had planned for a day at the zoo and the weather was absolutely perfect (for NE Ohio in the winter, anyway!) The blue sky, visible sun, and lack of falling snow made it a perfect day to enjoy winter at the zoo.


I actually LOVE visiting the zoo in the winter because there is hardly anybody there at all. The animals always seem friskier with less visitors. The zoo volunteers are not busy so they often seek us out to share interesting facts about the personalities and habits of the animals. Our local zoo also has excellent transportation around the zoo so we actually didn't have to brave the cold for long stretches of time.


Most of our zoo trip was spent primarily at two places - the Aquarium and Primates building and The Rain Forest. The aquarium is my daughter's favorite part of the zoo. Perhaps with her love of the water, she feels a special companionship with the fish. Perhaps she envies them their gills. Regardless, she loves to look at all of the different kinds of fish and aquatic animals. We were all so busy looking in the Aquarium and Primates building that I neglected to take any pictures.


Fortunately, I remembered to get out my camera after lunch and took lots of pictures in The Rain Forest. After enjoying a lovely picnic lunch that we brought with us, we headed to explore the Rain Forest.I was first struck by this lovely plant, a Firebush.

Then, the Smooth-Sided Toad caught my eye. I think I may have caught the Smooth-Sided Toad's eye as well!

The Rain Forest is the perfect place to visit in the winter. You can hang up your coat at the front entrance and leisurely enjoy the balmy temperatures inside the building. A spectacular waterfall greets you as you walk into the Rain Forest. The bottom floor houses primarily reptiles and amphibians like the Northern Spider Tortoise...and the Mossy Frog.The upper floor houses a wide variety of animals including ducks...

and the delightfully playful otters.We didn't visit the gift shop but Mason really wanted a small souvenir from the zoo. He was happy to get a souvenir penny!

We had a wonderful day at the zoo! Perfect, crowd-free field trips like a day at the zoo always remind me of how fortunate we are to be able to homeschool our children.

We are definitely blessed!