Family Vacation Part 1 - Woodland Park Zoo

Steve, Ellie, and I set out for our very first family vacation on July 27th, 2011. We decided that since our vacation time line matched up with that of my parents on their vacation, and because we were headed to the Northwestern part of Washington, we would spend one night with them up in Monroe, Wa. So, we headed to Monroe on the 27th and stayed the night with Grandma and Grandpa Rose in the tent trailer. Then, on the 28th, we all headed to Woodland Park Zoo in Everett, WA to begin our vacation.

Fair warning: as this is a zoo post, I'm sure there will be far too many pictures although I will try to be good. Surprisingly, this one shouldn't be too bad as we were in a hurry to see as much as possible before we had to leave the zoo and spent a lot of time showing animals to Ellie rather than taking pictures. But, enjoy the few we took!

We managed to unknowingly hit a day that was discounted admission, which was great! Except for the lines that Grandpa and Steve had to stand in to get our tickets. Daddy feeling yuppy with this AMAZING backpack our friend Kelly let us use for our trip. Long story short, you'll see LOTS of pictures of Ellie in this backpack on our trip and we will eventually end up buying one.She loves being up high where she can see so much!
We saw a number of gorgeous birds.
And I'm always a sucker for African animals.It was awesome watching the hippos play with big sticks!The zoo had an Asian and an African elephant in the same pen. It was fun comparing them. It was mostly fun watching this one run away from the other with its hay while the other elephant kept trying to steal it, even out of his mouth.
Smiling orangutan!Komodo dragon. So cool looking. And you've got to love the bubble on his mouth - perhaps some venom? Cool no matter what, and that's the option I choose to assume as it makes this picture even cooler.Then we managed to see a number of animals being fed. The grizzly here,the lemur eating flowers here,and the gorilla eating fruit here.Lastly, Steve's favorite animals - wolves. They're beautiful, even if their conservation status causes nothing but controversy.
And now, our last few pictures of our cute girl - of course!
Ellie enjoying some graham crackers along the way. She loves to cram as much food as she can in at once to the point of perhaps gagging and/or having trouble breathing. Makes mom feel great watching her eat...
And perhaps the best picture from the whole day.... Can you say like father like daughter?

Thanks grandma and grandpa for a great day at the zoo! Kerry bought Ellie a bushbaby stuffed animal and she LOVES it. Look for pictures in the next blog...