On our final day in Florida, we had an evening flight out of Tampa so we decided to head that way and enjoy the day at their zoo. As luck would have it, it was our one and only rainy day. It was a perfect day to be a tourist and not be at the beach.
Of all of the attractions in Tampa, we opted for the Tampa zoo. We had two reasons: One, because it is rated the #1 zoo in the US by Parents Magazine; Two, because they had a limited time dinosaur exhibit.
To Parents magazine, I would like to know who is rating your zoos because we are quite confident that there are much better zoos in the US.
To the Dinosaur exhibit, that absolutely met our expectations.
When we arrived, it was slightly sprinkling and they said that if we wanted to see the Dinosaur's we should probably head their first because if it started to rain, they would close it. We high tailed it that direction and we were the only ones in the entire exhibit.
We entered with caution as we knew that a life size T-Rex could be around any corner.
Cautiously watching for dinosaur's.
The look of surprise as they enter through the double doors (because all dinosaur's are behind double doors, right?)
Oliver is thrilled!
Kellan is... maybe... not so thrilled?
Behold.... life size dinosaurs were peering at us as we entered through the double doors.
Caution... this one unexpectedly spits water at spectators.
With caution... entering the T-Rex zone.
AHHHHHHHH
T-REX!!!
Ahh... look... T-Rex is a She-Rex as she has baby Rex's.
This guy reminded me of a smiling turkey dinosaur.
It's hard to tell, but this guy's wing span was HUGE!
The boys LOVED the dinosaur's!
LOVED THEM!
After we had our fill of dinosaur's and we stopped to pick up a poncho for the boys and an umbrella for Mama for protection from the increasing rain, then, we were off to see the sting rays.
This ray gave me the stare down. I almost thought he was going to stand up and say "hello". I told myself that he was posing for a photo but I think he was actually trying to will me to feed him.
Oliver LOVED "petting" the rays.
It took Kellan some time to warm up, but he did get in a touch or two.
Clearly, the ray wasn't the only one having a staring contest.
The absolute highlight of the zoo was this.
Feeding the giraffes!
It took all of three minutes but was awesome.
Each of the boys took turns feeding the giraffes. They would stick out their long black tongue and wrap it around the lettuce as they pulled it into their mouths. It was fascinating!
The elephant was in no mood to be social, or maybe, he thought this was his best side.
The rhinos became highly entertaining. They were in the same pen as the zebras. The rhinos would saunter away and the zebras would try to sneak their hay. Without notice, the whole herd of rhinos would charge the zebras to scare them away from their hay. This went on for quite some time and we found it highly entertaining. It isn't every day that you see a herd of rhinos charging zebras.
Oliver was super excited to pose in the photo op.
Such a handsome explorer.
Daddy and Kellan posed too.
MMmHHmm.... Crazy eyes and cutie pie eyes.
Another handsome explorer.
EEEK... The crazy man is back!
Ahhh... Mr (or Miss?) elephant offered another view on our way out as he (or she) sprayed himself with dirt.
HOORAY for Hot Pretzel Snacks!
We had a great grand finale at the Tampa Zoo. The rain kept away most everyone, so it was like having the zoo to ourselves. The cooler weather also provided some active animals, which was a highlight, right along with the dinosaurs.
From here, we headed to the airport and went from warm and toasty Florida to snow and 24 degrees in Denver. Come On Mother Nature!! Help us out with a bit of spring!!
We had an AMAZING trip to Florida and we're already dreaming of going back again soon.
If you ask the boys where their favorite place to be is, they will both exclaim "THE BEACH!"
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