Zoo, Zoo, Zoo!

I hadn't been to the Cincinnati Zoo in years and seeing the changes they've made were pretty impressive. It's definitely a better zoo in terms of parking and updates but their ticket purchasing area has some room for improvement. The weather was not nearly as nice and warm as they had predicted and the wind was downright chilly. Fortunately (or unfortunately as  my feet may argue) the amount of walking we did kept us warm.  I think we must have walked about 3 miles, total...yowza!

Upon our arrival - and after waiting in line for a half hour for tickets - we made a beeline for the naked mole rats in the World of Insects. Afterward, I asked Eva, "Were they everything you hoped they'd be?" and she answered, "I thought they'd be bigger." She did thoroughly enjoy them, however. They really are a ton of fun to watch as they climb all over each other through the tunnels of their habitat. Other things we saw:

• Night hunters (in the nocturnal house)
• Gorillas
• Tigers
• White lions
• Polar bear
• Black bear (sleeping and cute!)
• Reptile house (more snakes than I cared for)
• Elephants (and a squirrel who was in the house as well)
• We saw a peacock walking around but not with his feathers up
• We went to "Africa" and saw the meerkats, giraffes, flamingos, painted dogs (so cute) and an ostrich
• Rhinos
• Baboons 
• Gibbons

I hope to go back once the new hippo exhibit is open...I loves me some hippos! 

After the zoo, we came home and just hung out. Eva was exhausted and laid down for about a 1/2 hour (she fell asleep on the way home). We had dinner (chicken burgers, french fries and tomato/mozzarella salad) and then watched TV. 

Jim's making SLOW progress on the mudroom etc. renovation. The mud on the drywall isn't drying as fast as he wanted so he had to set up the heater. I'm hoping that he'll get the walls done before the weekend so the flooring can go down and I can get my bathroom back. 

Today Maggie will go out to lunch with Lynne (around 11:00) and Eva and and I will chill. The weather isn't supposed to be great but it isn't supposed to start raining until around 4 PM. That will give us some time for play outside, I hope. We'll have sausage patties, crispy crowns and green beans for lunch. Yummy! Maggie and Eva will leave me tomorrow. 

And that's all I've got. Time to get my mimosa on. (I can't NOT have one when Maggie is here!). Happy Thursday - later!