Hey guys!

We recently took a family trip to Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo. I’ve literally never been to a zoo in Florida so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Sweltering heat, expect that! Good lord.

But they do have a little spash park inside the zoo for the kiddos. Which was an wonderful surprise. Pretty awesome. We weren’t particularly prepared for the splash park, so my kids spent half the day in wet clothes. Oh well. Noted for next time. ;P

There was also a train ride. Jace was thrilled.

Photo courtesy of my husband, the king of overexposure. 😉 In his defense, Florida in May mid afternoon is kind of overexposed naturally. #SunshineState

What is it about carousels that is so photogenic? I LOVE these pictures. I paid for them dearly with bouts of motion sickness. Ew. #WorthIt. And my dramatically glamorous 2 year old. She woke up like this. 😉

Also, turns out my severe RBF is hereditary. hahaha! (Grandma, don’t ask me what RBF is…I’m not telling you. Google. 😉 )

There is a petting zoo.
Please enjoy this photo of my daughter double fisting goat brushes…

The goat was really excited about it. Very enthusiastic creatures, goats. 😉

There is currently a Chinese Festival of Lights happening at Lowry as well. It’s a separate after hours event that requires a separate ticket purchase that we did not stay for, but we did get to enjoy the plethora of decorations in the sunlight. Still gorgeous.

I’m convinced that they have a certain proclivity for birds at Lowry, as they had so many of them. There is even a “Birds of Prey” show, during which my children demonstrated their own squawking talents of discontent due to having to sit still for 30 minutes. 😉

I was particularly excited to show the kids a rhino, in light of their likely extinction within their lifetime. 🙁

Check the baby elephants, my friends. OH EM GEE. It even nursed from its mother elephant while a herd of human mommies stood there and gushed about it. I miss breastfeeding. #NoShame

We fed this guy (or gal?) Kind of awesome. Kind of terrified Zoey. L O L!

(That moment when you have a one chance shot at a photo of your kid feeding a giraffe, and your camera autofocuses on the fence instead. -_- )

This snakes name is Megatron. Totally worth mentioning. and he’s at least 20 years old, as he’s lived at the zoo that long. crazy! I was surprised Jace even touched him. Zo poked him and ran away screaming…. at least she tried? haha!

It was a lovely (although extremely hot) day. Next time you’re in the Tampa Bay area you should totally check it out!