A few weekends ago we decided to take the baby to the Cologne zoo. We have always wanted to check it out. It’s not that we needed a reason to go to the zoo but it seems a bit more justifiable now that we have the baby.
We figured he loves watching Elle so much he might like seeing other animals. We’re always looking for ways to make this kid happy. 🙂 Our assumption was correct. If it was an animal and it was moving or making noise, he was fascinated.
Owen is an outdoors man. When my mom babysat him, I told her to take him outside if he got fussy. Just stepping out the door instantly makes him the happiest baby. He loves looking at plants, clouds, trees, flowers, bugs that whiz by, birds, and listening to all the sounds. Sometimes he’ll even sing along with the birds. His reaction to wind is the cutest thing – he closes his eyes and gasps while grinning and kicking.
He loves going to parks and for walks. The zoo was like going for a walk in the park but way better!
The Cologne zoo is fantastic (but not quite as awesome as the one in Colorado Springs) and has a wide variety of animals. It also has the largest elephant park in northern Europe. This is just the inside, where all the elephants were that day. But the outside habitat was enormous, it looked like a little piece of Africa.
The rainforest was a big hit with Owen. There were fish, birds everywhere, monkeys, butterflies, and a waterfall. Owen also has a thing for water – fountains, ponds, the kitchen sink, his bath…
One monkey came right up to the glass and waved at him.
Another favorite were the birds. The flamingos were squawking like crazy and Owen couldn’t look away. He got all excited and started squeaking back at them.
There was an aviary with birds on either side of the sidewalk. He not only loves hearing them chirp, but he loves watching them walk and fly. We probably spent a good 30 minutes or more in there and we had the place to ourselves which made it even better – all you could hear were birds!
Bird alley was also where we had to do a rather emergent diaper change.
Haven’t you ever been so excited you pooped?
No…?
The giraffes were our last stop before closing time, and since he was wearing his zoo sweater (he also has a zoo shirt) with a giraffe on it, we had to at least get a picture.
We weren’t expecting him to love the giraffes like he did. He stared in awe are the giant spotted animals, he was utterly fascinated by them.
He conked out the whole way home, the zoo tuckered him out. Since it isn’t too far from home, we’re hoping to bring him back to check out the aquarium. We’re pretty certain he’ll love it…colorful things that move quickly and water are two of his favorite things!
PROST!