Lions and tigers and bears...are where?

Rumor has it, there are animals at the zoo. Now, we go at least once a week, sometimes more, and I have yet to really confirm this, but I'm giving the idea the benefit of the doubt.

From what I hear, our zoo groups the majority of its animals by continent/habitat. The largest section by far is Africa, with all of the animals of the Serengeti and standard zoo favorites - giraffe, cheetah, gorilla, zebra, etc. There's Australia, featuring fun kangaroos, sheep and a lot of birds. The Tropics take you to the rain forest, the Discovery Barn shows kids frogs and meerkats, with farm-ish/americana animals (pig, deer, donkey) outside. A few catch-all areas showcase tigers, elephants, otters, sea lions and soon, polar bears. In short, it's a zoo with zoo stuff.

So with all of this to choose from, how is it we haven't seen any of them? I mean, the G-man LOVES the zoo! It's his number-one go-to destination. Aren't we there to see his favorite animals? Not really...

Despite the fact we spend hours there every week, rain or shine, we rarely see a creature other than other zoo guests! For the zoo has a few more things that he prefers: carousel, tram, train and playground. The majority of these are focused around the front gate, so we can go weeks without ever setting foot in the main part of the zoo. Trust me, it's almost a skill to be so focused on non-zoo activities.

Upon our arrival, it's straight to the carousel, for one thing and one thing only - a ride on the ladybug. Really. That's all he will ride. God help us if there is another kid riding the ladybug or even looking at it. His ladybug riding is legendary, with staff regulars recognizing him straight off.

If given the chance, he would do the carousel all day. We use it as a home base, as in me saying, "Let's go do X" and G-man finishing with, "and then ride ladybug again." We simply bounce back to it on a consistent basis.

Next to the carousel is the snake exhibit. I will say, he does love this and they are the only animals we routinely see. I'm sure part of their allure is the convenient location to the ladybug.

After another ride, it's off to...ride something else. The tram is the logical choice. It runs to Africa, so you'd think we get to see that at least. Not so fast! You didn't think G-man would let us get off the tram, did you? We wait for it to unload/load again and then ride back to the main gate. We can occasionally see the elephants on our journey and usually the flamingos, too. These, along with the snakes could be the only animals we see all day.

If the planets are aligned, we can ride the train, located next to the tram stop. It has two sections. The first trip starts at the front gate and loosely takes you past camels, sheep and kangaroos. Unfortunately, that long journey involves a tunnel that scares the crap out of him so we have to skip it. But the second half of the trip (starting from another station) is very short and only takes you by the polar bear exhibit construction site on the way back to the front gate. It almost guarantees you won't see an animal but G-man is thrilled to see the machines instead.

How is it we get near the other train station to begin with? Why, it's near the playground! Yep, there's a playground with slides and tunnels, located just a wee bit away from the main gate. How nice. Walking to it takes about 2 minutes from the carousel and is often the farthest distance we travel on our own. It's usually too freaking hot to use from sitting in the sun, but entices him just the same.

So if you ask G-man what he did at the zoo, he'll say, "see animals," but he's lying. I'm curious to see how he reacts when he's older and realizes there are a ton of creatures to really watch and that the zoo isn't just a tiny amusement park that happens to have random elephant sightings.

Before toddler-hood, I've never knew it was possible to spend 4 hours at the zoo and barely leave the front area. But G-man is fine with that and that's what counts. I, on the other hand, am inexplicably exhausted after it all, every time.

Keep that in mind if you ever embark on a visit with us. Oh, and one more important zoo fact: he is totally scared of sea lions.