"It's all happening at the zoo.."

The Woodland Park Zoo that is. We have to start our blog by thanking the fabulous Jess, Jess, & Michele (and their significant others) for their awesome engagement present: Seattle City Passes! These passes get us admission to the zoo, aquarium, museums, and a ferry ride!


This past Saturday we drove over to the zoo on a bee-u-tiful day. That's right, bee-u-tiful. For all of you who think that it is always raining here and that we have no fall.. take a look at this:


The first attraction we visited was the jaguar. We heard him (her?) before we actually saw him and instantly knew that this jaguar was a distant cousin of Cheshire. The racket that he was making trying to cough up a hairball was audible from 25 yards away and immediately made us think of Cheshire only a few nights earlier. Cheshire has taken to eating the carpet off her new scratching post and shockingly had her first hairball... gross! Anyway, the jaguar was working on coughing up this hairball for a good ten minutes.


As we worked our way through the many regionally-named exhibits we got to see a plethora of animals. We were fortunate enough to come upon the gorillas at feeding time. We were happy to see our own distant cousins munching away on a feast of fruits and veggies. It's funny how the gorilla mothers are never pestering the gorilla sons about getting enough protein.


This guy looked like he was either pondering the possibility of escape or mourning the loss of the almighty New York Metropolitans (this revelation came only from Keith, Laura just didn't see it).


We also got to see a Grizzly Bear catch live fish and splash around in all his glory.


Disclaimer: Sometimes Laura & Keith have mixed feelings about zoos. It can often be depressing seeing animals in such tight quarters. On the other hand, the conservation effort on the part of zoos and the educational opportunities they provide are both extremely beneficial. We did not let these mixed feelings interfere with the enjoyment of our day.