Eggs, paws, and claws

We've only been zoo members--well, it will be 1 year on Amara's birthday, so not quite a year yet. Been probably a half dozen times, but it never seems that the member events work out for us (timing wise), so we've actually never been to any of those. This weekend was the annual Eggs, Paws, and Claws event--and I HEARD, with special guest PABLO from the Backyardigans. We HAD to go.

...AND, since our friends Jason and Sylvia turned us onto them in the first place, we of course told THEM about the event and planned to meet. Mom took Amara up to the zoo, so Eric and I could both meet up there (and not have to double back to GC). We headed straight in the front gate--but the 'event' hadn't kicked off yet, so we went to find new animals instead.

Because we were approaching dinner-time, Amara caught the attention of some vendors, and grabbed a hotdog before we were 10 ft. inside the zoo...I wondered about taking food that close to animals, but I guess they must be used to it.

The first animal we got to, which I'm sure has been there before considering it's just inside the gate, was the Lynx. It was beautiful--just kept pacing back and forth and jumping around. Amara was intrigued by the 'kitty.' We quickly moved on (as we met up with daddy) to the Asia exhibit and FINALLY got to see 'baby' Beco....who is over a year old now. Better late than ever! He was playing with a giant blue ball, similar to my workout ball--which I personally found funny.

Off to the merry-go-round. It was really a fun ride and Amara enjoyed going up and down--getting taller than mommy and daddy ;) Next, to the boat ride--this was a first for all of us! Last fall, it was closed already by the time we got around to it. After a short wait, we got right on. Amara wasn't thrilled by it, but didn't seem to hate it either--though, she did tell us it was a bit long (by repeatedly saying 'out' or 'off').

As we wrapped up the boat ride and headed to the main path, the 6 o'clock hour struck and we started watching for the character caravan. This is the name they give to an event where they drive a cast of characters around the zoo to visit, without actually stopping for photos, etc. JUST past the carousel, we heard a familiar Backyardigans tune and the caravan appeared!

It consisted of a polar bear (coming this summer), eagle, koala, and PABLO! We were all so surprised and excited--I think they were beyond us when we realized what had happened! They are on make-shift golf carts, but they weren't crawling either. Knowing Amara was nearing her end, we headed to meet up with Jason and his family (who arrived after a car accident, bee-sting to Sylvia, and STILL made it) and got to actually see another drive-by of the caravan!

We all posed for a quick shot and then headed out the gate to get home. They stayed and had a great time too, from what we heard! We (apparently) missed any other special festivities that were going on, but we had a great time on a perfect evening. As we left, they were handing out bags at the front gate, and we 'heard' different stations were around for treats, but it wasn't in the cards for this year. We had plenty of other opportunities anyway, this visit was all about Pablo.