Zoo in the Summer

So, I love going to the zoo.  As a kid, my grandparents used to take us every summer to the St. Louis Zoo and it was totally AWESOME!  Even if we didn't see all the exhibits we at least walked over the entire zoo before eating lunch at Forest Park and then going to Carlyle Lake where we would eat dinner or returning to the zoo before going home.

Last year, in an attempt to get some animal pictures for My Project Noah(which I have yet to post!) my other half and I tried to spend the morning in the zoo.  I say try because while we got there just as they opened, it was mid-July and we had gone on a Friday morning.  It was a stop on our way to Chicago for our first ever trip to Medieval Times.  We had a pretty decent parking spot, within sight of the entrance.

I had forgotten about how busy and loud it can be, though!  Not only that but I'm no longer a child more intrigued by what's going on around me than annoyed so when children are blocking my view of the perfect picture of a random reptile or fish I would get aggravated.  That's nothing though when combined with the screams of babies, parents calling for their kids, and the most annoying: children making demands of not only their friends, siblings or cousins, but their parents.

Now don't get me wrong, I love kids, most of the time.  I have approximately ten nieces and nephews and don't get to see them nearly often enough.  I also know that the zoo is a great cheap if not completely free (you have to find a way to get there when you don't live within walking distance.) all day activity for kids.  I loved learning about wildlife of all kinds growing up though I am horrible at knowing what is what specifically.  I even rewrote informational texts from encyclopedias and had those wildlife cards (though I do believe I stole most of them from my older sister's collection.  She only kept the ones she didn't already have a copy of or that she liked.) when I was young.  Wish I still had those wildlife cards!



Anyway, I found that even though they've done some awesome things, like the underground section(which reminded both of us of Willy Wonka) on the train and the Sea Lion Sound Cove, it's a horrible idea to go there during the summer because the crowds are enormous, the noise level is as bad as any concert and trying to see the exhibits?  Well, let's leave that to the children!