Callan's first trip to the zoo

On Thursday, we headed down to OKC with Travis' parents to take Callan to the Oklahoma City zoo.  Ideally, we would have taken him ON his birthday, but Tuesday was quite the rainy, overcast day - so we held out until the weather improved.  Thursday couldn't have been more beautiful; it was sunny, with a light breeze.  Truly, a picture-perfect Fall day.  And the Fall foliage throughout the zoo was breathtaking.  I couldn't inhale enough - there's just something about the smell of a crisp Fall day.  Ya know?  Ahhhh...love it.

Anyways, I was pretty excited to add another first to the list for our little guy. 

One of our first stops at the zoo, was the "children's zoo" area.  We walked through a bird sanctuary where I got dive-bombed, almost pooped on, and where Travis made a new friend.  These talkative little birds were incredibly social.

The children's area had lots of little tunnels and climbing walls and ropes.  This kid has no fear.

Travis and Callan climbed a rope ladder, crossed a rope bridge, and took a ride down the slide.

Callan taking a swing on a rope just outside the little monkey exhibit.

There were lots of bronze animal statues throughout the zoo...we stopped and took a picture at quite a few of them.
They just scream "photo-op".

How cute are my boys.

The majority of our pictures were of us enjoying the zoo - not of the actual animals.  Hmm.  Maybe next time we'll snap a few more of the exhibits.  In this shot, Travis and Callan were watching the momma tiger and her 4 cubs.  They were way cute.

While watching the tigers, Callan climbed up on this log by himself...
I guess that extra 4 inches, or so, gave him a better vantage point.  ;)

As you can see, this statue was massive.  It kinda weirded me out...but how adorable does my boy look, all chillin' in the gorilla's arms.

The elephant exhibit was newly re-opened.  It was stunning.  Seriously.  And the baby elephant was too cute.
She was born in July and weighed 304 lbs. at birth.

The first time we walked by the lion exhibit, the lionesses were up on the hill, soaking in the sun.  Later in the day, we walked by to find them posing on the rocks for other visitors.  We had to stop and say hi.  (And snap a picture.)

After we stopped for a later than usual lunch, Callan was ready for a snooze.  I snuggled him as we walked - he was out in no time.
I <3 my sweet boy.  We explored the rest of the zoo while Callan caught some zzz's.

The zoo was absolutely beautiful.  We can't wait to go back.  Next time, we'll pack a lunch and settle into this lovely picnic area, nestled amongst the trees in the middle of the zoo.

The zoo is so full of Fall this time of year - it really was breathtaking.  I might have taken more pictures of foliage than I did of the animals.  What can I say?  I missed my favorite part of Fall while living in California for 6 years.