Utah's Hogle Zoo

While in Utah we made sure to visit Hogle Zoo.  The last time that we went was two years ago and a large part was under construction at the time and we wanted to see how it turned out.  We started out visiting some monkeys.

 We then made our way to the elephants.  I love these big creatures and our zoo doesn't have any so this is one of my favorite animals to see when we are at Hogle Zoo.

 Charlotte was just a little baby last time so this was her first experience seeing an elephant in person.

 Lily was excited to see them again.

 We moved on t see the rhinos, who were off in a corner resting in the morning sun.

At the enrty area to the new park of the zoo there is a little playground.  It is so nice for the zoos to set up areas like this so that everyone can take a break and get the wiggles out.

 There was a pirate ship, so you know that my girls climbed all over that thing.

 And peeked out of the portholes.

 The bald eagle was missing from the exhibit, but they still climbed into the eagle's nest next to it.

 Next were the otters, which are so much fun.  They swam around all through the water and the girls just loved to watch them.

Otters are easily as fun to watch as penguins, maybe more so because these guys were so active and playful.

We found some more water animals starting with the seals and sea lions and then finally...

 we found the polar bear!  He was so fun to watch, I think that the adults were as enthralled as the children, and we were there for quite a while.

  Eventually we moved above ground were he would swim up to the glass, 

 rise up on his hind legs, and just backwards into the water.  He repeated the cycle over and over and still it was great to watch.  I really thought that being this close to the bear might frighten Charlotte, but she was fascinated and loved it when he came up close.

 We found some more bears, grizzlies and blacks.  One was even taking a naps right in front of the glass.

 But as soon as food was put out he was up and gone with the rest of them.

 My camera battery died shortly after we left the bears, so no more pictures of the animals.  Hoever we found the great apes, giraffes, everyone besides Gideon and I went through the reptile house and by that point it was time to call it a day.  Poor Gideon was strapped to me all morning and it was a warm morning.