Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, March 22, 2010

Little monkeys at the zoo...they are so cute!! Nick, Rory, Jack, Aiden & Chase and Paige. We missed Madi, Jenny and Emily...they got there a bit later. Good, good memories of this zoo. We always had a family pass, so would come up to see 1 or 2 animals before I went to work. It was great. Bud and the kids had some really neat experiences here too! When we first moved to the Springs in 1996, it was not the best zoo. Sad animals and enclosures, and Chad and I went home so depressed. Slowly they have built this into an incredible zoo. I love this zoo!! The giraffe area is amazing, Tigers, gorillas, wolves have whole sides of the mountain to move around. Amazing. I could go on and on, but again, the zoo did not fail, great memories and a fun time with friends!! I miss you guys!

Since we have left, they have added an old ski lift which takes you up the mountain, with a bird's eye view of the zoo and the Springs. I forgot when I got on how much I "love" ski lifts...love them. I heard Cindi's giggle the whole time, as she was the person to get me on my first ski lift, and that's another story in itself!! I miss you Cindi! It was amazing to look and see all the animals under us. Though Chad pointed out that going over the tigers and grizzlies wouldn't have been his idea of safe! LOL!

My beautiful Paige girl....she was a bit nervous, but did well!
I thought about leaving Rory...he was so excited and wiggly. I was getting worried about all his sudden movements. If you are that high off the ground, let's just move carefully? I was just thinking!!

This is the children's area, which a great place to play. We didn't make it this trip, but there are so many play areas, it was okay. This area is the petting zoo, with lots of learning areas too!

Rory and Paige at the top of the zoo, looking over the Springs.

Isn't that view amazing? LOVE it!!

Looking into the tiger enclosure as we came over the top of it...I wonder how many tourists a tiger family eats a week? These animals are beautiful...and rather large. Bud and I got a good look once when it was only about 18" away from us....incredible!

Jack, Rory and Nick being "captured" by a Grizzly. The grizzly area was new as well, and WOW!! There were HUGE salmon swimming in the pool, and the grizzlies would come down to get them. You can look through the glass as they go into the water. One grizzly snuffed around the seam of the glass, right about the top of a little boy's head. It was a bit nerve wracking. What if the glass broke? Holy COW!! RUN!!

Proud peacock strutting his beauty!

Giraffe's LOVE the crackers you can feed them....it's great fun!

This guy was in LOVE with Paige...she loves being licked by them...NOT!! :) They have slimy tongues!

Paige, Nick, Rory and Jack on the zebra. We have lots of pictures of the kids on this zebra....good times, good times!!

After the zoo, we went for dinner with the Hepworth's. We love that family....so it was good to see them. Everyone is growing up quickly! After dinner, we went to the Miller's, and stayed just a quick minute, as they were prepping for a wedding. It was good to have a few minutes to visit!