Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website.
Hi! Did you catch yesterday’s post for the Bunnies by the Bay Giveaway? Be sure to stop by and leave a comment on that post so that you are entered to win a soft little backpack for a special child in your life! You have until Saturday evening at 10:00 p.m. EST. Good luck!
I have been looking forward to taking the kids to the zoo this spring, and we finally got there this month! May is definitely the ideal time to visit the animals – the temperature was perfect and the crowds were minimal. Such a fun way to cap off our week of Zoo Animals!
My parents live about 90 minutes north of us in the suburbs of Washington, DC, so we headed up for a morning of fun at their local Reston Zoo. I should mention that we have visited the National Zoo in downtown DC on a number of occasions, but with young children, we actually preferred this smaller venue. The size of the National Zoo can be overwhelming for the little ones, the animals are often far away, and the crowds can be a bit much. The Reston Zoo, on the other hand, was an incredibly pleasant surprise!
I grew up in Reston, but the zoo was nothing like this when I lived there! They have recently remodeled and improved the facilities, changed their “offerings,” and added a variety of new animals.
We started our visit with a “safari ride,” where we sat in a large wagon that was pulled by a tractor. The tractor drove us out into the fields, where we stopped periodically to allow the kids an opportunity to feed and pet the animals. Everyone was very friendly!
This llama was one of the first animals to come up and say hello. I was shocked that the boys were not the least bit intimidated by these large creatures in their face! Instead, they loved feeding them!
We also got up close and personal with an ostrich,
a Watusi (check out those horns…they weigh 250 pounds!),
and a yak.
For those kids (or adults) that don’t feel as comfortable getting nosed by wild animals, there is also seating in the middle of the wagon…providing a bit more of a buffer from the furry folks.
The boys thought it was hilarious when this friendly camel decided that he would take Gibbs’s entire cup of food. Thankyouverymuch.
We also visited a bird aviary, where we could feed the budgies seeds from popsicle sticks. The kids (and my mom) thought that this was wonderful. I, on the other hand, was totally freaked out. That’s about the time that I pushed a wrong button on my camera and everything went blurry!
The zoo also offers pony rides (which we skipped on this particular day because the boys were getting hungry for lunch).
And, just to show that you don’t need exotic lions and tigers to have a good time, Casey’s FAVORITE part of the morning was watching and feeding the ducks at the pond. Go figure!
He was especially enamored with the ducklings…
On our way out of the park, we also made a quick stop in the petting barn, where we fed some goats and some piglets with baby bottles. You should have seen the look on Casey’s face when he stole a taste of the “milk” in one of the bottles! EW!
And one of the highlights of the day for my boys? The Reptile House.
Boys will be boys! I did you all a favor, though, and I didn’t take any photos of the giant pythons and lizards that we saw. No thank you!
This was really the perfect way to spend a morning. We will be back soon!
