as i said, we made out way to the zoo yesterday. it was a lat minute trip kind of deal. nothing planned. left in time for caden to nap in the car. stopped at the first metro station in franconia-springfield and caden got to take his first ever subway ride

he was pretty excited about being on a train and kept going "choo choo" the train was above ground for a little bit being that we were coming from the 'burbs.

three trains later and we were there....or at least in the area. we were about a 1/3 of a mile from the zoo where we were greeted by this guy.

first it was off to see the air conditioned visitor center so sky could "take a break". caden was literally on the edge of his (stroller) seat. while waiting we got to see the panda's on the television. real time footage. not as good as the real thing but it passed the time... finally we got to see some animals. we came across the cheetahs first. you can see one in the background (right above the black rail) taking a break from the sweltering heat. you would think cheetahs would be used to it. i hear africa is pretty hot this time of year...

next it was on to the emu. caden loved this thing. he was disappointed because just around the corner from here should have been the zebras...but to all of our dismay, they were MIA.

inside to see the pandas. where caden could barely contain himself.


he kept crawling up on the railing trying to catch a better view.

then there was the bald eagle.

the hippos and elephants...the free range tamarine monkeys. there were lots of warning signs to hide your food. these guys had free range of the park. this is the mama and her 2 month old babies.

the prairie dogs were next. then the BIG CATS!! lions and tigers, oh my!

on to the invertabraes. apes, gorillas, orang utans...then after a stop at chipotle, it was time to head back home on the subway.

for a little peek-a-boo then bed time