Zoo Lights

Since we had a zoo membership this year, we decided to head up to see the zoo lights. Instead of going on a rainy day, we settled for freezing cold. We almost didn’t go because today was the day Phaedra decided to start showing symptoms of a nasty cold, but Eleanor overheard us discussing it and got her hopes up. I asked Grant if he wanted to go see the lights at the Z-O-O, and Eleanor perked up, “Are we going to the zoo?” Apparently, spelling doesn’t always work anymore.

Eleanor was excited and impatient the whole time we were gathering warm clothing, packing a sack-lunch dinner, and getting ready to go. After all that, we put her in the (eventually) warm car, took a long drive, and even got a little lost.

It was no surprise that this is how excited she looked in the car.

Phaedra was bundled up as could be.

They had a marching band just past the entrance playing Christmas songs. Listening to them really got the blood pumping on a cold winter’s night. Eleanor seemed impressed by the band, but none of us could stand still for too long in that cold.

Grant wore his headlamp with the red light on so he wouldn’t shine it in people’s eyes. We didn’t see the sea lion at first, but it was attracted to Grant’s light. It kept swimming past to try to get a better look at it. Then it put its face right on the other side of the glass, and would follow Grant as he moved back and forth. It was really cool but also quite humbling standing so close to such a large creature. Grant said that alone made the trip worthwhile.

This spot had lit up fish swimming by in the air.

Anaconda in the trees.

This chomping crocodile was just off the path.

Munching hippos and a few crocodiles lurking in a pool of lights.

When we were stopped at one point, I looked along the side of the stroller to see Phaedra’s curious little mitten reaching out to touch the Christmas lights. It was so cute. Eleanor, of course, joined in when I pointed it out. The picture doesn’t do the moment justice, but I want to remember it.

It just isn’t a trip to the zoo without visiting the (closed) petting zoo. Eleanor wishes she could pet EVERY animal in the zoo.

All the trees below us were lit up, and it was a beautiful sight. The pictures don’t show it as well. Oh well. We had a lot of fun. We promised Eleanor we would ride the train the next time. It had lights all over it, and it would have been fun. We were about to go until we saw the huge, long line. Since we were already heading back towards the car, we couldn’t convince ourselves to wait in that line. I’m glad we went when we had a zoo membership. I don’t think I would have liked to pay the entrance fee just for zoo lights, considering how they had a large part of the zoo closed off. We enjoyed it, though. It was a fun alternative for those who aren’t near temple square.