Day Trip: Blank Park Zoo

Our second day trip was to Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines.  This time we went with Nana and Papa, and there was some concern that it was going to be another roasting hot day like Adventureland but it turned out to be beautiful and perfect for visiting a zoo.  Must have been because I told the weather to stay cool and the clouds to stay near ;)

The first thing we got to do was feed parakeets.  I didn't expect this to be so much fun.  An entire room was dedicated to free flying parakeets and sticks with bird seed could be purchased for $1 each to feed the birds.  The birds certainly knew what to do, they instantly hopped right onto our sticks and started pecking away.

Next was a bird show (Adi was in bird heaven) called Birds Down Under.  Here is the bird trainer and one of the many stars of the show.

Feeding the giraffes was a fun thing to do, too.  I had no idea how long their tongues were, this one was pretty shy and stood back but it had rained the night before so the ground was muddy and they apparently don't like standing in mud.  Can't blame them.

We saw several kids with very cool face paintings so it was easy to say yes to Adilyn having hers done.  She, of course, became a beautiful butterfly.  Amazing how much it changed her facial features.

We were so proud that Adi chose to ride the camel by herself.  There was, of course, a zoo employee leading the camel but she went without an adult.  She's growing up!

Feeding the koi lasted far longer than we expected.  Adi was giving them one piece of fish food at a time.  She really enjoyed it, crazy and weird as it is to see so many fish flopping all over each other!

One of Adi's favorite creatures was this guy.  I can't remember what it's called but it was very cool looking.

We also love frogs and this blue guy was very cool.  We really enjoyed our time at the zoo and I'm so grateful that we went when we did.  It was a fun and blessed day indeed.