Z is for Zoo!

Back when Archer was still an infant, I read somewhere that its good for babies to explore new environments, like the zoo. I hadn't been to a zoo in years and was pretty excited to have an excuse to go as a new mom. Archer was just a few months old, but we got a zoo membership and went for lots of Saturday walks through lion roars, elephant trumpets, monkey screeches, exotic bird songs, and mommy phone calls to grandma. We even celebrated Archer's first birthday at the Honolulu Zoo, and we've been to zoos all over ever since.

I can't talk about the zoo without addressing the elephant in the room (pun intended). Whenever we went, inevitably someone would say that they think zoos are unethical. I am not an ethicist or a zoologist. I did read Life of Pi and The Zookeeper's Wife though!

All I know, besides a lot of hippies, is that the people who dedicate their lives to the care and keeping of animals at the zoo--and the patrons who pay to support them--love animals so much. Every zoo employee, from the trainer to the train ride attendant, loves animals so much and wants to be near them as much as possible. They will clean their poop and deal with their inability to communicate without words out of their love. I know that everyone has their own thoughts about this, but I've seen nothing but adoration and gratitude from the people caring for the animals at the zoo.

And we visit because we LOVE animals too! We love planning which animals we will see, which ones we want to see first, what sounds they'll make, what they'll be doing, and so on.

We went to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City on Sunday and had a blast. They have a "Bugzilla" exhibit right now which is huge, larger than life bug figures that can move placed all around the zoo. Some you can climb on and some you can just get super scared of! The scorpion is crazy big!

#toddlers #zoo #tiger #elephent #giraffe