Taiwan Zoo

Once our childcare help was gone, the girls decided we needed to get our kids out of our hotel and do some fun things. One day we decided to go to the Taiwan zoo. After several metro rides we finally got there. This was Caden's third visit to a zoo and Grady's first. When we first got there it was actually pretty cold (and I didn't wear a coat!), but as the day went on it turned out to be pretty nice and sunny.

Going in..

 First stop...koalas (there's actually a baby behind this one, but you can't see it). After that, we got on a tram that took us to the back of the zoo and we worked our way to the front.

 Caden, of course, loved the elephants. The first thing he said when we saw them was, "I ride elephant!" He just assumes elephants are for riding like a dog is for playing. I guess that's what happens when you ride an elephant the first time you see one!

 He always loves the hippos especially the ones he can climb into their mouths without getting eaten. I didn't even tell him to crawl in there; he just squatted and smiled at me like, "Go ahead and take a picture of my cute self."

 He had to give the zebra statue a 'good game.' I think he's gonna (or already does) have a tushy fetish.

 Then he had to take a picture with his buddy.

Then we read the sign. Oops...we read this after we put our children on there. Technically, they didn't climb up there.

 zebra tushies

 rhinos are huge, thick creatures

everybody loves a panda bear

This is the strangest thing we saw. It was time for Grady to eat, so we sat down at a bench. Caden watched elf on my ipod (so he wouldn't run away), and I watched the chimpanzees play while I fed Grady. They were amusing to watch, but the strangest thing was their butts. It looks like they have a giant hemorrhoid growing. Gross. Anybody know what's going on down there? (update: leave it to my mom to know everything! Apparently, these were all female chimps and they are in heat. I googled it and their butts get pink and swollen and it lasts about 34-35 days...eek. I guess the females are separated from the males so as not to over populate the zoo! Learn something new everyday!)

Since I fed Grady at the monkeys, it was only fitting to get him one. This was the closest looking thing to a monkey they had even though I'm pretty sure it's a leopard.

Caden wanted a panda bear like all his friends got. He cuddled him in his jacket to keep him warm.

Everyone got a lot of use out of our stroller these 2 weeks. I've said it already, but I love this stroller. It really has done so much good for us. I generally pushed Grady, Caden, and another kid that was tired of walking or just thought it was fun to ride on the back. Caden and this little girl were in the same nursery class back when they just turned one before we left the states. They've gotten so big, and we still think they could pass as twins.