Austin Zoo escapades

We recently bought the Groupon to the Austin Zoo. I'd always heard that the Austin zoo wasn't really a zoo and was really disappointing. But with young kids, you can't pass up the zoo in your own city unless you want to win "Worst Parent of the Year" honors. Since the year was winding down and I was in the running for this honorable award, I figured we should pack up our own zoo crew and head that way.

The first animals we saw at the zoo were roosters and chickens. "Here we go..." I thought. 

 However, the zoo ended up being a GREAT experience. We saw bears, jaguars, lions, tigers, HUGE turtles, as well as a great feeding/petting zoo with goats, llamas, etc. The really neat part was how close you were to the animals. The lions were literally 3 feet from us, behind a fence of course, but still.... The zoo was also in a really shaded, not paved environment, so you feel a bit better for these caged animal's wellbeing. Also, quite a few of the animals have been rescued.

The day was a great outing... until the boys melted down in hunger and fatigue at the end of the morning (see picture above). There is a train that we chose not to ride due to the tired and hungry boys in our party. Hopefully next time we can take our little conductors on the little train. We look forward to our next zoo outing!