Saint Louis ~ Friday

Friday was our designated ZOO DAY! Caleb was so excited about going to the zoo and seeing all of the animals. We drove back into the city and joined what seemed like every other person in St. Louis at the zoo. We saw a former student of Rudy's who now works at the zoo and he said that it was one of the busiest days they've had in recent history. I completely believe it! There were people everywhere. Fortunately, it wasn't too hot for a July day and we were able to enjoy seeing lots of animals...and people. The animals were really active and out where we could see them. The first thing we did when we got there was ride the train to the back side of the park so that we could go to the sea lion show. We got there a little early, so we walked through the big cat habitats first. The tigers were all laying out in full view and a lion was lazing under a tree just yards away from us. We had great seats for the sea lion show (thanks to Rebecca) and we all loved watching them perform. After the show, we held our breath as we very quickly perused the monkey house and then exhaled outside because Caleb wanted to see the "giraff-amos." (That is what he and Pops call the giraffes in one of his books!) Caleb kept asking to see the bears, so we managed to see them and the penguins too. We also took advantage of the new stingray interactive exhibit where you get to pet real stingrays (barbs removed). That was pretty cool - even for someone like me who really doesn't like animals all that much. We made a quick jaunt through the children's zoo before we called it a day!

And just for some perspective...

Here is Caleb at the zoo in July 2008:
And in July 2009:

After the zoo, we headed straight for our favorite restaurant in St. Louis: Cunetto House of Pasta! We waited over an hour for a table and it was worth every minute of it. Caleb even said, "Mmmm! This s'ketti is delicious!" The rest of us showed our appreciation by eating until we were miserable. BUT...no trip to St. Louis is complete without a trip to Ted Drewe's on Route 66! I'm not ashamed to admit that I played the pregnant card and requested a Ted Drewe's concrete on the way home. The line was all the way to the street (as usual), but the concretes were oh-so-worth-it!