Minot Zoo, Splashdown Waterpark

After the trouncing we got over night of a thunderstorm, to which I awoke at 1am to the flash of lightning, the morning was nice and clear. The clouds moved off and the 3/4 inch of rain helped to dampen the drought a bit. It took us a while to get going but around noon we finally got out of the house with the boys and went to the Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot.

The whole family ended up at the zoo, all the nieces, grand parents, and cousins and we spent nearly 2 hours roaming the zoo. Lots of animals to see throughout and the boys had a blast. J was super excited to see the tigers given his Calvin and Hobbes addiction. We started with the bears and worked our way around the park.

The tigers are amazing. The male was laying against the glass and the boys were astounded by him, hell I was astounded by him. Just amazing how huge his head is.

The female kept laying in the cool grass while the male paced on his side of the pen. They are separated right now but they allow them together sometimes.

The lions were chilling in their pen. The male kept his eyes shut the whole time I watched him and he kept his nose going with the wind. The female stayed in the shade and they both seemed to be super chill.

Across from the lions the giraffes were getting fed by the keepers. Such a silly looking animal, their massively long tongue and necks, and the massive pads on their knees where they cush. I watched as the giraffe swallowed and I could watch the lump go all the way down its neck. I am used to seeing it with the alpaca but this was a whole new thing. At least 3 times as long of a neck and very visible without the masses of alpaca fiber.

Zebras look like mules with stripes. I didn't hear them make any noise so I can't say if they sound like them but the form is just oddly similar.

I think this was a howler monkey and while we stood by the cage is started to howl. Hive account@stryeyz said it later but it was the song of the caged. The monkeys were all in the winter cages since the vets were about and were doing checkups.

The warthogs were funny. Dude came right up to the fence and I got to rub on his nose and head. The boys got to scratch his back through the fence. Hair like wire bristles and coated in mud.

As we walked over the bridge to the other side of the zoo we looked down at the river to see a mass of bullhead catfish welling up. Crazy huge number of them all at the surface.

This is the largest wild turtle I have ever seen. This is a snapping turtle with a shell at least 2 feet long. The thing is way bigger than the tortoises in the zoo just up the bank. Insanely huge damned turtle. And it makes it through the North Dakota winters!!!

The otter jumped in the water just to poop then they jumped out and hid under their logs on the hill.

The bears were "playing" in the hammock. One of the females was in the hammock and the dark brown male went to try to get some. She popped out of the hammock then he followed and poked at her butt, to which she plopped down and growled at him. The other female did the same and he seemed to get a bit frustrated at the two girls walked back into their hut.

After the zoo we went back to the house then went into town again. Hive account@stryeyz and I got a room for the night in town so we had a night alone for the first time in a year and half. Since the hotel had their pool undergoing maintenance they gave us a sheet of wristbands for the splashdown waterpark in the mall. 3 slides, 3 pools, and a hot tub. R spent his time in the kid pool which was nice and warm while J spent his time going down the water slides, A LOT! He did 20+ runs down the slides and probably more.

After making our way out of the water park, leaving the kids with auntie, we went to dinner at Paradiso. We ate WAY Too much but it was soo damned good we couldn't help it. We have leftover still today that I am now anxious to get into.

Today we are hung over, but the Caribou coffee helped to deal with a good bit of that. Back at the house we have some things to take care of then this evening we will be going up to the SIL's house for a couple nights. If it will stop raining I am going to till my MIL's garden for her so she can get it planted this weekend.