Lions and tigers and bears, OH MY!

Yesterday, we went to the San Francisco Zoo with 10 girls from my girl scout troop. Also in toe was Tiny, Boops and my dad. Thank goodness for dear ol dad who took care of the baby the entire time!

It was a fun day. We left around 9 AM and headed over with 6 kids in my car (3 of which 

were my own), we got the the zoo just as it opened at 10 AM. We didn't see everything, as I had hoped, but we saw a majority of the animals. 

The zoo as a whole was disappointing. I have

n't been to the SF Zoo since I was in 7th grade so we're talking almost 22 years ago. Gosh, that's a scary thought. But it is so run down and haggard looking. The exhibits weren't well maintained. The animals themselves looked sad and pitiful. One of the silver back gorillas just sat by the cold black cage door that leads them back to where they are housed at night. His face was sullen and lips down turned like a child when it's sad and sitting alone in the corner. It was heart wrenching. Hardly any of the animals were awake. They were in their enclosures but off to the side or in the rear sleeping so there really wasn't much to see. The most excitement we had, animal wise, was the polar bears who were JUST coming out into the enclosure for the morning and they strutted out, stretched their back legs far behind themselves and laid down. Rough life they lead, eh? Might I add that they laid down with their bottoms to the crowd so we didn't even really see them much. 

Several of the exhibits were closed such as the rain forest exhibit that was a phenomenal experience. That was a let down as well. We did ride the train and the carousel but at those prices, I am amazed they had as many riders as they did. $4 for the train ride that takes 2 laps around a very short track, lasting less than 5 minutes and the carousel that costs $2 and is even a shorter ride than the train. But it was Boop's first time to do both and he was too cute for words on both. 

After the zoo, we had lunch on Ocean Beach. The girls all had a blast running up the beach as the waves came in. They were looking for sand dollars that used to cover the beach but yesterday was not a good day for sand dollar hunting. There was an overabundance of crab shells, though. Some birds had a field day and a nice dinner leaving literally hundreds of crab head shells strewn about the beach. The highlight was a squishy and quite stinky dead jellyfish that had washed ashore. After much poking and prodding, the fascination was over and they moved on. I loved watching them just being 9 and 10 year old kids, with no cares in the world, enjoying the moment that was at hand. I got some good pictures, too. These are the moments great memories are made of. 

Speaking of memories to store away, I was driving home and started thinking of what I had to do when I arrived back home. I took the wrong exit and ended up having to drive almost to the Oakland Airport before there was an exit to turn around. Even at that, we had to drive through downtown Oakland to find the entrance back on. What a frustrating situation that I will be sure not to repeat. Despite the set back, we had already made up a bunch of time by cutting through city streets and getting back on the 101 by the Bay Bridge so we still beat one of the parents back to the house! Amazingly enough. 

I've added a few pictures from the day. I'll only post ones of my kids since this is my blog! I'm partial like that. :)