The Racine County Zoo - August 24th 2008

As a last hurrah to finish the summer we decided to visit a zoo in the neighboring county of Racine. Despite its proximity to us we'd never been there, no doubt because the Milwaukee zoo dwarfs it in size and publicity.

Mind you, there was almost nothing to blog about because the first five minutes in the zoo were absolute HELL. The kids were fighting with each other, throwing tantrums, crying, talking back, etc. I specifically remember LuLu planting herself on the ground and refusing to move.

Enough was enough. We packed them all up and began the drive home. We made it about 10 minutes before the kids regrouped, apologized en masse, and asked to have a second chance. They didn't deserve one, but frankly I was miffed at the idea of my money having gone to waste so we gave it one more go (we'd been stamped out when we left, so readmission was free)

Racine's zoo is much smaller than Milwaukee's but much prettier; less industrial, with more attention to hardscaping and plantings. It's quite beautiful.



There was a definite shortage of animals when we went, as several exhibits were closed for remodeling, but the ol' favorites were there: giraffes, monkeys, etc.







We strolled along the lakefront



and we visited the petting zoo.







Along the way we got some cute pictures of the kids. They were very well behaved in round 2, probably because we sprung for a three seat stroller.











and a cute pic of yours truly



I said the kids were well behaved the second time around, and they were. But at the lion cage Smiley intentionally tossed his empty soda bottle past the fencing and into the 'no man's land', then tried climbing out to it. Crazy kid.

A mixed grade on the day, but overall enjoyable.