A turtle being shy

On our first day in DC we decided to go the Smithsonian National Zoo.  I figured that way Hunter could run off some energy from the long drive.

A gorgeous cheetah

One of the first animals we saw were the cheetahs.  I have always loved cheetahs ever since I was a little girl and did a report on them.  They are just such beautiful creatures.

Mr. frog sunning

The guy above you might remember from my post yesterday.  He was enjoying a swim in the pond at the zoo.

Panda from far away

The pandas are one of the things I most wanted to see.  However, none of them were really wanting to have their picture took that day.  This was the only one who was outside.  The rest were indoors.

Mitchell in the Mist, lol

There were some interactive things for kids to do. 

Learning about the pandas

None of them held my 4 year old's attention very long, though.

Amazed!

But when we found the aquariums, Hunter was amazed.  He couldn't believe that everything in this one was alive. 

Can you see the little guy in this pic?

I thought this elephant was cute toting around his toy tire.

Wanna play?

Tips for visiting the National Zoo:

• There is no entrance fee to visit
• Parking at the Zoo costs $16 for the first 3 hours and $22 for more than three hours
• The parking lots were kind of small and may fill up during busy times
• There is transportation to the zoo by Metrorail and by Metrobus. Info can be found here.
• The zoo is on an incline, so be prepared to walk uphill and downhill a lot
• There seemed to be a lot of construction going on right now, so some areas are closed
• It could have just been the time we were there, but we were a little disappointed because the animals were not out and about like we expected
• Be prepared if you enter the ape building, the smell will knock you out!