Kids naturally love animals in general I must say. We have been to the zoo for so many times ever since we become parents and the kids simply never get bored. My oldest gets excited just by hearing the word "zoo".
We were a bit hesitant about getting the Minnesota Zoo membership at first. I mean it is $100/year and up for the whole family but we were wondering how often we would actually use it and how long it would take before the kids get bored and so forth. Still, we decided to go ahead and get it and try it out. I gotta say that it was a great decision. We sure have been to the zoo countless time since we got the membership. Now, you don't have to get a membership to go the zoo for sure. If you will be visiting often, it is better to get the membership than paying the admission each time.
We've been there quite a bit since last summer and we usually stay outdoors and explore the outdoor trails. Now that it's freezing cold, they have great indoor tropical trail for you to explore if you don't want to be out there in the cold. We were there twice last week when it was 4 degrees !! It was all warm and toasty inside.
We stayed indoors the whole time and I took few photos to share from the tropical trail.
Here's the path leading to the tropical trail. Cool photos of animals, some are in real close-up (macro shots)....
They have so much more animals in there. I just managed to capture some of them. Here's the Komodo dragon lounging and looked all relax and lazy
There is also a mini waterfall and mini man-made river with flamingo, ducks, and turtle to entertain you and your kids
Here are the Malayan Tapirs
There is also a "pool" (that's what my 4-year old called it) with some corals and fishes, sharks in there. You can view the shark feeding from here at 3 pm daily if I'm not mistaken
If you walk down further, it will lead you to this giant aquarium, which is my kids' all-time favorite (and mine too, to be honest). We just love aquarium!! in gigantic size !!
My daughter said these two looked like the fish in the movie "NEMO" (ha..ha..good memory!)
This photo doesn't do justice, but I love the beautiful coral. Something about them is just relaxing to look at
The zebra shark
Walking out from the aquarium, you'll see more animals, and I couldn't help but to take picture of these four Visayan wart pigs taking morning naps. I mean it's all cozy and toasty, I would take a morning nap too
And another one was taking a nap too (can you blame them?). The red panda hiding its face
The flight zone is the last of the tropics trail. You'll see birds flying around and tweeting...
And once you walk out from the trail you'll come to an indoor picnic area. We actually brought our lunches there and had picnic. We absolutely loved it. So relaxing to be able to enjoy your lunch and hearing the birds tweeting.
These were Fiorina's exact words: "This is the best day mama! Let's come again and then have picnic again".
I love going to the zoo with the kids because it is fun and educational at the same time. It keeps their minds open with all the different animals they see. They get to know different places where these cool animals come from and lots more. Even, we, as adults, learn so much from this. I know I do, because some of the animals, I didn't even know existed !!
Zoo is a great place to be with your kids, even in the winter. You can choose to stay indoor or outdoor.
Marv
Labels: Indoor Activities for Kids, The Minnesota Zoo
