promise me you will go to the cheyenne mountain zoo if you ever travel to colorado springs, okay?

i have been to a number of zoos in my day (phoenix, san diego, la to name a few) and none compare. i know what i am saying may be crazy because all you hear about is how amazing the san diego zoo is and although it may be bigger, the quality of animals and experiences available is unparalleled at the cheyenne mountain zoo. and one reason it may be so amazing is it is privately owned. something to think about…

anywho. i had the opportunity to get up close and personal with a tower (group of giraffes = a tower… i can’t make this stuff up).  like literally i was cuddling, feeding and kissing these adorable giraffes and was in complete heaven. right after that experience, i joked that the only way this day could get better was if i got to feed an elephant as well.
do note, you are able purchase leaves of lettuce from the hut to feed to the giraffes and i believe it was $2. also, don’t be the rookie and give them a full leaf. you want the experience to last forever so break up the lettuce into smaller pieces.

if you look very closely you can see the giraffe’s abnormally long tongue as i was feeding him. such an amazing experience.
yes there are some other zoos that let you feed the giraffes (phoenix is one) but i have never seen anything where you get to get this up close and personal.

and i think this giraffe might have had a crush on b because he had no food and all this giraffe wanted was some loving from him.

fast forward 30 min to when we approach the elephants’ home and see they are allowing visitors to feed them. as you may have guessed, i was on cloud nine.

elephants actually use their trunk much like fingers when taking the food from you. i though it would be more like a vacuum.

and i think my face says it all. i was completely giddy.

we also enjoyed seeing the hippos, tigers, leopards, a baby orangutan, gorillas and sloths.

and then we got to watch a grizzly bear swim around and attempt to catch a fish. it was incredible. i had never seen a grizzly bear before.

we all agreed that this was our best zoo experience of all time. cheyenne mountain zoo even has better food than the average zoo. so if you are going to do anything in colorado springs, go here (oh and also garden of the gods)

what is your favorite zoo?

although we did tend to stay indoors cooking and game playing, there were a few fun activities we just had to experience while we were in colorado springs.
garden of the gods was one of them.

garden of the gods is a national natural landmark of red rock formations. they are said to have been created during a “geological upheaval” along a natural fault line millions of years ago.  there is nothing quite like it in the rocky state. although it did remind me a little bit of southern utah. moab / st. george anyone?

there were a fair amount of visitors when we arrived at the garden of gods and so we ended up having to park about a mile away. not to worry though, there are pedestrian trails all across the park to the main formations. it was a flat and paved walkway with beauty all around.

we were able to tour the main formations in about an hour (but touring with young kids takes more time so you could probably do it more quickly if you want). there were spots to rock climb if you were the appropriate experience level and had a permit. b was jealous.

side note… i feel like we are all dressed for a different occasion / weather? b for an intense hike, sisters for a casual walk around the mall. littlest sister for a brisk walk around the city and so forth. ha that is the tates for you!

garden of the gods is gorgeous and a must see if you are in the colorado springs area.
oh and just in case you are like where the heck is colorado springs… it is about an hour away from denver.