We love the Memphis Zoo

Da. Da. Da. Daaaaa. Memphis Zoo here I come.


Okay okay...I am getting a little self centered here. This was a family trip after all. Let me start over: Here WE come!


One of the best parts of our mini vacation to Memphis was our trip to the Memphis Zoo with my parents. I haven't been to that particular zoo since I was a kid, and we were so excited to have a chance to take Elem and spend some good time with my parents. Even though I was really pumped about Elem getting too see all of the amazing animals that I knew we were going to have a chance to look at, selfishly I was super pumped about all of the awesome animals "I" was going to get to see. I freaking LOVE the zoo. haha. I could just walk around and sit and watch those animals all day long. Not in the humid Memphis heat in the middle of July, but you know what I mean!

Rule number one. When planning a trip to the zoo, never, ever, ever ever, forget to bring your stroller. Unless you PLAN on renting one for $10.00 at the gate. Which actually worked out to our advantage because the stroller was so awesome and light, but still I cant believe I forgot the stroller. Bad mommy. But with the rented stroller in hand, we were ready for a fun filled day of animal sight seeing.


The Memphis Zoo is sooooo big, so we just jumped right on in, hoping to cover as much ground as we could. We arrived right as they opened the gates, and didn't even have to wait in line at all. Elem's most favorite animals to date are the giraffes and monkeys. Those were top priority and they did not come up short. Thankfully all the animals were out and about, and we were able to see pretty much everything, at every little area were went to. Monkeys- check. Lots and lots of monkeys-check.


Giraffes and a few unnamable animals that made it in the picture-check. :) Seth was so good to point out all the animals to Elem. I think Elem kept calling a lot of them zebras, haha, but hey a few of them were super new to his book of knowledge. And mine too for that matter. :)


Sadly, a few minutes after that pic, Elem was so excited to see the giraffes, he ran up to the "sight seeing" rope and then quickly back to me to tell me what he saw, and tripped. Scrapping up his little knee. Luckily it was a minor injury and mild hiccup in our day. After some lovin and kisses on the boo boo, just a few minutes later, we were back on track. And posing for a family snapshot. There were some GREAT spots for pics. This one is a keeper.


Now to my personal favorite of the day, the underwater area. This could be one of the most magnificent things I have ever seen. Not only is it a nice break to walk indoors to catch a little air conditioning, but this "half above, and half below" view you are able to see is amazing! I remember watching the sea lions as a kid in an area somewhat like this, and it was always my favorite. But it did not compare to the awesome view we had.

Why hello there Mr. Polar Bear. -Elem kept saying, "he lookin at me, he lookin at me" And continued to chase him from one end to the other, trying to "talk" to him or get his attention.


Seth was good to try and get Elem ready for when the polar bear was coming their way. So he could get a good look. Just look at the size of that thing!


Thank you Mr. Polar Bear. Thank YOU. What an almost unreal site to see. I still cant get over how smooth they travel through the water. Very, very, awesome thing to see. I can only imagine how crazy it must be to see it as a little kid. This was defiantly one of the top highlights of the day for the whole family.


Elem continued to hang with us all day. Enjoying each and every little stop we made. The carousel, lunch, the elephants, the train ride, and the gift shop were all fun and there were no fits along the way...that I can remember. Just happy to be here people, just happy to be here. Sweaty, but happy.


The second favorite stop of the day, was most certainly, feeding the birds. We had the chance to go inside this enclosed "rainforest" looking area, with about a hundred live birds just flying all around you, where you could purchase sticks with bird food on the end of them, and the birds would fly right up and eat right off of your stick. It was sooooo cool. At first, we had no takers, but after a couple of minutes, we had plenty of feathery friends who wanted some of our yummy treats. Elem loved being able to see the birds up close. (And yes so did I)


I love this pic of my parents and Elem. All three concentrating so hard on watching the little bird eat and stay on that tiny stick. Precious.


We had so much fun, and such a wonderful day. Spending time with my parents was awesome, and being able to see all that the Memphis Zoo had to offer was amazing. Some great memories were captured and I am so thankful that my parents got to be a part of it. Thanks so much Memaw and Papaw. We love you! I have high expectations that this will be at the very least a yearly event. Hopefully next time my sis and brother n law can come and bring along Baby Wyatt.

See ya next year Zoo!