St. Louis Zoo

I think that the St. Louis zoo just might be my favorite zoo that we've visited thus far (and we've been to at least 4 zoos in the past 3 years... Well, 3 ½ with the Amarillo zoo being the ½.)

The admission to the St. Louis zoo is absolutely free, and we parked on the street so we didn't even have to pay for parking.  Free!   

Mom & I ended up splurging by buying a $10 wrist band that allowed us access to all of the extras at the zoo: the train, the carousel, the stingray cove as well as several other attractions. 

 Posing with Owen in the stroller we borrowed from Jennifer for the day.

 Kaden, Owen & grandma

 

Fall might be the perfect time to go to the zoo as most kids are back in school, making everything extremely accessible and easy to view. The weather was also perfect—hovering around 65°.

 

 excited to see the tiger pacing back & forth

Holding Owen's hand while riding the train

wide-eyed through the dark tunnel

 

The Penguin & Puffin coast ranked high among my most-favorite attractions.

 

Kaden taking a look at the penguins outside.

 As we strolled inside the building, there was a definite drop in temperature to mimic a penguin's true climate.

Owen enjoying himself with his new cozy Mizzou tiger hat.

 Mommy & the boys: Kaden (3 years old) & Owen (9 months)

 Last year when we went to the Butterfly House, Kaden wanted to ride the carousel but once we got on and it started, he quickly became terrified and wanted to jump off. 

This year, he seemed excited at the sight of the ride and immediately said that he wanted to ride the tiger!  I think it may have been a little scary at first but he had a good time.

 Owen and grandma relaxing on the bench seat.

 

I think our favorite attraction of the day was the Stingray cove.  For me, this alone was worth the $10 wristband as we got to leisurely walk around the shallow pool and pet the stingrays & baby hammerhead sharks.

 The only thing we had to do before entering was wash our hands and remove any/all jewelry as to not harm the stingrays in any way. 

Telling Kaden what to do...

Basically, all you had to do was flatten your hand near the surface of the water and wait for a stingray to glide up, underneath your hand... similar to how a cat will rub up against you and essentially get petted.  It was SO neat!

 Owen chillin' off to the side.

smooth & rubbery

   View into the stingray pool.

Lovin it!

 

Our final destination of the day was the Children’s Petting Farm area and the goat pen.

 Owen taking a closer look. 

Kaden brushing the goats.

Getting acquainted with my new friends.

 

 Walking back to the car with grandma.

 

I wish that Ben could have experienced the zoo with us, but then again someone had to stay back and make some money.  We had an awesome day at the St. Louis zoo!