Hogle Zoo 2008

For our nephew Brandon’s 2nd birthday, the Romgi and I thought it would be fun to spend a day at the zoo. Brandon is one of the most adorable little boys I know, and usually one of my favorite people to be around. This day at the zoo convinced me that I really, honestly, truly do not like kids.

At all.

It seemed like a good idea at the time to go on “Boo at the Zoo” day – the Saturday just before Halloween, when the zoo invites kids to come in costume and get candy at a bunch of different animal exhibits. We managed to find a parking spot after about 10 minutes and then entered the line to buy tickets. Somehow we ended up on the side of the ticket booth that had only one window open, and we stood for about 30-40 minutes slowly inching up towards the ticket window.

Brandon removed his costume after approximately 2.25 minutes in line.

We were almost up to the window, with only a few people ahead of us, when this guy at the front of the line decides that now is a good time to apply for a zoo membership. He spent a good 10 minutes filling out the paperwork. Why didn’t the cashier have him step aside to fill it out? I was really grouchy by that point. Really grouchy.

Brandon inside the zoo - no costume.

Swans and ducks aren't exactly interesting first exhibits.

Next were the Navajo sheep.

Then we saw wild turkeys. What kind of zoo is this? These are animals I could see driving around Utah! And where is the candy? Oh - by that really long line.

Brandon did enjoy the monkey house, once we showed him where the monkeys were hiding.

Free candy (for a 20-minute wait in line) or an ice cream cone (for $3)? Not a difficult choice to make. That is me in the background, being pregnant and grouchy.

Unsure why they had a bunch of cornstalks, unless it was for Halloween, but Brandon was happy hiding in them. And the Romgi was happy taking pictures.

This is the gorilla exhibit, which had no gorillas - only a black cat. Quoi?

And this is me making Brandon cry. It was not on purpose. Seriously.

I'm not a terrible person...really...

The Romgi gave Brandon candy to make me look even more like the bad guy. It calmed Brandon down, and we went on a train ride. So nice to sit for a few minutes!

The train ride took us through all the boring, non-animal parts of the zoo. Why are there teepees?

Ok, admittedly, the buffalo were kind of cool.

After that we took Brandon to the gift shop and let him pick out whatever he wanted. Of course, we only directed him towards budget-friendly items, but I’m sure he had fun grabbing things off the shelf. I would.

We did finally make it back to the car, about two and a half hours after we first got in line to buy tickets. Here’s the conclusion I came to: Roni needs more sleep before going on outings. A lot more. The Romgi had a good time, and Brandon apparently did too, and the further we get from the trip the more I think it might have actually been a tiny bit fun.

But I probably won’t be going back anytime soon.