Springfield Zoo

The day before Easter, April 23, we headed down to Springfield and since our friends the Pankow's were headed that way as well we decided to meet up at the zoo. It was a wonderfully humid day, but the kids had a fantastic time seeing the elephants, hippo, feeding the goats at the petting zoo, petting a baby camel, and admiring the monkeys.

Allee, Jadyn, Pierce, and Brendan

Feeding the giraffes. I have NEVER had the opportunity to feed a giraffe and the entire family loved every minute of it! Their tongues are unbelievably long and as Pierce says, slobbery! The kids couldn't get enough of them. By the time we left I think the giraffes were sufficiently full, because Pierce found one more little piece of cracker and he couldn't get even one to come over and eat it. It was amazing and such a fun memory!


Beth and Brendan feeding the giraffe who loved to snort and blow air at everyone. The first time it happened to Allee I think she jumped four feet of the ground!
We found every character from the movie Madagascar, which was apparently very important (who knew?!). We had a great time and it doesn't matter how many times you go to the zoo, it is always so cool to see which animals spark your kiddos interest and watch their faces light up when they finally find the one animal they have been searching for! For Pierce this time it was the monkeys, and for Allee it was the giraffes.
We love this zoo and how amazingly close you get to the animals!