Fort Wayne Zoo

Sometimes there are just those places that take you back in time to your childhood and make life feel simple and care free. The Fort Wayne Zoo is one of those places for me. When I was in junior high, my dad (a college professor) got a summer job in Fort Wayne, so we all moved up for the summer. We got a smallish apartment for our family of eight and spent the summer reading tons of books for the fabulous Fort Wayne library summer reading program, running around outside in the big grassy area that just happened to be right outside our apartment door, and making frequent visits to the Fort Wayne Zoo. It was a fairly simple summer (at least from my childhood memory's perspective) as the major busyness of life had been left back home. I have a lot of fond memories of really good family time.

And so, when we visited my sister and her husband, we decided it was time to take Benjamin there to enjoy it as well. It's rated one of the top zoos in the country and with good reason. The landscapes are beautiful, the animals easy to see and for the most part, not just in cement cages, and of course, they have a water fountain shaped like a lion. (see the picture below to find out why we think that fountain is so great.) It didn't hurt that the weather was absolutely perfect the day we went either. Now that we are back in the heat of south Texas, I'm really missing summer weather than you can enjoy being outside in.

Benjamin absolutely loves trains, so he enjoyed climbing around inside this one

Admiring the Jelly Fish

This is a classic picture for us. Matt had a picture of himself drinking from this fountain when he was little, and then we have another one that I took shortly before we were engaged of him drinking out of it, and now it's Benjamin's turn.

Benjamin loves hats!

Getting silly with the hats
In the rain forest