We're Going to Ride a Train... errr Wait, We're at the Zoo!

So as the spring semester was winding down we tried to think of something fun that we could do as a family once I was done with finals. We had heard that Santa Barbara had a nice zoo so we planned a family trip to the zoo. While looking at the zoo's website, which had a picture of the little train at the zoo, j* got really excited about riding the train. We told him that we were going to ride the train and he could hardly believe it. We live a little over an hour from Santa Barbara and needless to say, we were asked a few times when we were going to get to the train. As we pulled into the zoo parking lot we told j* that the place with the train was actually a zoo with animals... he was blown away and quickly began asking if they had various types of animals. T* remarked that it was a good thing we didn't tell him that we were going to the zoo before we left the house and I quickly agreed.

The Santa Barbara Zoo was great. It is not the biggest or fanciest zoo in the world, but it is also not the most expensive and it is across the street from the ocean. We were there on a "postcard" Santa Barbara day and really had a good time. They had elephants, lions, gorillas, giraffe(s), eagles, California condors, penguins, snakes, monkeys and more. The really cool thing was how close you can get to the animals. One of j*'s favorite things was feeding the giraffe(s) with his mommy. One of his other favorite things was playing on the little rides that cost fifty cents. Luckily for us, he still thinks its cool to play on them without putting any coins in. The gorillas were also pretty cool. We lucked out and they were really close to the glass. One was probably about 6-8 feet away. As far as the snakes go, J* is not a real fan and when we first arrived at the zoo j* asked if they had snakes. J* told him they did and j* got a little freaked out. Then J* told j* to make faces at the snakes and all of a sudden he really wanted to see the snakes, in fact we had to go back to see the diamondback a couple of times.

We would really recommend the Santa Barbara Zoo to anybody with kids. One cool thing is that it doesn't feel like they are trying to get you to buy stuff around every turn. They have their souvenirs and stuff, but they aren't to get your kids to notice them and beg for them everywhere you go. The ocean view from the giraffe pen and the accompanying breeze are two other reasons to go. Also, there were school kids there until about 2pm and the rest of the time the zoo was wide open. If you can avoid the train, you can save some money. It is a little overrated since you don't really get to see a lot in the way of animal life. Finally, if you do get the chance to go make sure you take some pieces of cardboard. The good people of the Santa Barbara Zoo put in a sweet astro-turf hill for kids to play on and it is one of the most popular attractions. With a little piece of cardboard the little munchkins can get flyin' down the hill.

Here's a few pics:

Feeding the giraffe... more fun for j* or mommy?

Face-off with the gorilla... thank you thick glass.

No coins... but we still got a thumbs up.

Memo to the City of Santa Barbara... thank you for putting the zoo so close to the ocean!

Astro-turf hill without cardboard... luckily no holes in the shorts!