Cincy Zoo and Slip-n-Slide

Yesterday we drove to Cincinnati to spend the weekend with our friends from medical school - Dawn, Chris, and their kids Rachel and Ben. We got up today and decided to go to the Cincinnati Zoo.  They are revamping some of it, but we got to see most of it including a great exhibit of male white lions.  They were pretty and at one point they roared a roar that would make you evacuate your insides if you were out on the savannah.  Some of our favorite moments of the day didn't involve animals.  We rode on the zoo train which the kids loved.



The kids gravitated toward the playground which included a big spider net jungle gym.  We thought we might catch a live bird show that was on the schedule.  It wasn't until we got to the outdoor ampitheater that we realized that the schedule we were given when we entered was for the next day and there was no bird show.



Instead, we were treated to a free concert by Roger Day.  He's a children's music singer/songwriter and we had a great time for this hour-long concert in the zoo.  He got the kids to help him act out some of his favorites, like "Mosquito Burrito" (those are mosquito finger puppets that Aaron is waggling above), "Dream Big", "It's a No No to Kiss a Rhino", and "Ready to Fly".



We did get the three boys to capture and then pose on a stray crocodile before we left.  He wasn't moving very fast, so it was easier than we thought.



To cool off that afternoon, they set up a slip-n-slide up on a hill in their yard.  It was great because of that hill - gravity pulled you so you didn't have to worry about timing the run with the fall on the face.  You could just start out on your face if you wanted. 



We ate grilled meats, helped Dawn with a puzzle she was working on, had fried ice cream-flavored ice cream for dessert.  After we put the kids down, we played Guitar Hero III on their Wii late into the night.  Dawn schooled us by playing "Slow Ride" by Foghat on Expert.  I guess we'll have to get out own and practice.