A great time at the Minneapolis zoo!

Sunday afternoon, we went to the Minneapolis zoo with Adam, Emily, and Jeremiah (or "Little Mister" as he is sometimes called by them). Jeremiah was dressed in an appropriate "Feed Me" outfit and ready to take on the beasts ...
We saw the monkey exhibit first thing! They were kind of elusive, but Grandpa Jones zoomed in on this one so that I could see his cute little pink face ...

These graceful swans were swimming in a pond next to the cafe' where we got a light lunch. I had never seen a grey swan (the one in the rear) before ... and I love swans!
This is a Russian grizzly ... the bear of my nightmares (!) ... for some reason, I am deathly afraid of bears. Meeting one in the wild would be the ultimate terror for me.
Look at this beautiful cat! I just love the skin on this animal ... not to WEAR or anything like that ... just to admire!
Jeremiah was less than impressed with the leopard. At 11 months, we didn't expect him to really get too terribly excited about the animals. He had more interest watching all of the people coming and going and crowding, etc.

I like these pictures of Adam and Jeremiah. Very nice!
Grandpa Jones took this awesome shot of the geese ...
... as well as this one of the prairie dog. I took a bunch of pictures of the prairie dogs playing. They were pretty amusing to watch ...
These Asian Wild horses were too far away to see ... and my camera wasn't doing the trick! I casually mentioned this to Grandpa Jones, who turned ... zoomed in on them ... and voila! Isn't he a show-off?! But wow. Aren't these beautiful creatures?
I don't think I've ever seen a two-humped camel in real life ... only in pictures. There were a few families of these critters ...
How would you like to carry around those mountains on your back?
There was a very nice Farm exhibit too. I love farms! Most of the animals were caged, but chickens and roosters were wandering around just about everywhere ...
I thought this rooster was especially handsome!
He came over to check Jeremiah out! In the hen house, though, there were such unusual-looking ... chickens (?) ... with black and white speckled feathers and funny hair-dos. The wire on the cages didn't allow for very good pictures, though, so I can't show you what I'm talking about.
The obligatory silly photo ... which, of course ... is VERY silly!
Grandpa Jones asked me to stand in front of these GIANT sunflowers to demonstrate how pathetic MY sunflowers are in our back yard ... sigh ...

Here are the caribou. Some folk were showing their children the "reindeer" ... beautiful!
Grandpa Jones got an up-close-and-personal shot ... nice antlers, fella!
I took a few pictures of this tiger, through plate glass, and they turned out OK (I guess) until I saw this one taken by Grandpa Jones!
Pretty wildflowers were all throughout the exhibits. There was also a sky TRAM which looked like it would be fun to ride. We didn't ride it, however!

My favorite part of the zoo was the aquatic part ~ I've forgotten the name of the building ~ inside, there were the MOST exotic and stunning creatures I have ever seen!
This is a SEA LION ... isn't he beautiful?
See Emily showing Jeremiah?

My sister told me about seeing a sea animal down in Florida (I think) at an aquarium. She did a great job of describing it to me, but having never seen one myself, I couldn't really get overly excited ...
This "fish" is the LEAFY SEA DRAGON, and I think this is what Ruthanne was telling me about. It is found only in the waters off of southern Australia. It has no teeth or jaws. It sucks food into its mouth and down its long throat. It is the most delicate and beautiful animal I have ever seen ... ever! I googled "leafy sea dragon" and was able to watch a documentary 5-minute video entitled "The Vanishing Dragon." Watching them float and move in their own wild habitat was SO amazing.
There were also WOODY SEA DRAGONS ... and they are very cool, but I liked the leafy ones the best. Can you see its EYE? And these beautiful appendages completely mimic the seaweed in color, shape and size! He has almost invisible follicles on his back that are constantly in motion. I wish I could show you one in action! It just took my breath away!
This is the WOODY SEA DRAGON. They are both close to the more common sea horses we're all familiar with. How God thought up such intricate and beautiful creatures is beyond my comprehension. I'm so thankful I got to see these little sea dragons and watch them for awhile.
And NO zoo is complete without a gift shop or two ... right? We stopped in at a nice one just before leaving the zoo. Adam is showing Jeremiah a little $5 gadget that looks like a cross between a shark and a dolphin ~ you can operate it like a little claw ~ Jeremiah thought it was hilarious!
Isn't he SO cute?
I think Jeremiah's very first zoo excursion was a success! Grandpa Jones and I certainly were glad to share this time with Adam and Emily!