SB 2013 - Phoenix - Day 5

After another quick walk with Susie on Tuesday morning, we prepared to depart for today's journey to the PHX zoo. It is another BIG experience like everything in the west, quite a large place. Jai had packed our snacks the night before thankfully. Susie renewed her membership which had 2 guest passes. We'd planned to use our reciprocal Nashville Zoo membership benefit for 50% discount, but not necessary with the guest passes. Jacqueline was free since she's under 3 & they didn't charge for Julia either which is odd since usually people say she looks older than she is.

"I smell camel"
After bathroom breaks & snacks, including another nursing session, we start to explore the zoo.  BTW - I saw a bunch of different women breastfeeding babies, 1 using a cover of course, though a few like me were not. There were a ton of birds on display which surprised us as not a lot at Nashville Zoo, but such a different climate/habitat.

We also saw lions, tigers, rhinos, monkeys, cheetahs, flamingos (not as pink as Nashville ones), some kind of cattle, deer (seems unique) and giraffes.
Another benefit of Susie's membership were some free tickets for the carousel, sting ray bay and a camel ride. Julia really wanted to ride the camel today and announced as we approached the area, "I smell camel." She waited in line with Jai & declared that she would ride the camel alone. Julia bravely climbed on the back with the worker's assistance and gleefully rode around the pend (with another worker guiding the camel), big smiles, perfect for the camera! She wore her Gilligan's hat (that's what it looks like to me) and looked like a veteran on a safari or desert trek. She almost lost her flip flop as it fell far to the ground, but the camel guide retrieved it.

After too long in the sun, we headed home for rest time. Jacqueline fell asleep in the car for a brief nap unfortunately, but Julia took a good long respite. Jai tried to book his hotel for his alone time, but we should have done it over the weekend because we couldn't find any rooms (except at the scary Knights Inn down the street - awful reviews!). We forgot about baseball's spring training and it also being Easter week & lots of people on Spring Break. The girls did dinner of beans & rice, then bath; Jai walked to a cool neighborhood restaurant for dinner alone.

We got to bed early and again hope for a later wake time for the girls. Another fun day in sunny AZ! Jai looked at weather forecast in Nashville - no snow, but in the 30s! YIKES! We're going to be sad and cold when we get home on Wednesday after the lovely 80s in Phoenix.