I am the kind of parent that childless people hate. I take my kids to hip restaurants and am not deterred by the complete lack of booster seats, high chairs, or chicken fingers on the menu. I am simply not content to while away my weekends at home or limit our outings to places that have designated stroller parking. I wheel our mammoth double wide into petite boutiques and carry my cooing baby into austere galleries. We boldly go where no family unit has gone before.

Theme by nostrich.

6th February 2011

Post

Brrrrr’s and Purrrr’s.

Snopocalypse. Snownami. Snowmageddon. I’m having a Snowtal Meltdown from the number of days we’ve been cooped up in the house this winter.  I feel like a degenerate parent when my son plays Wii for hours on end, or sits glassy eyed with the iPad on his lap; but the sad fact is that I have no choice. When the kids have a snow day, I scramble to entertain them while working from home.  So, if I want to keep my job, I need to get over the guilt in letting my 5 year old gorge himself on electronic media.

Even when the daycares are open, my kids aren’t exactly getting an abundance of exercise or outdoor stimulation during the winter months.  At best, recess is doing synchronized stretches, or maybe a game of indoor duck-duck-goose. 

So, when the weekend rolls around and the windchill isn’t downright dangerous, I bundle them up and out we go.  To quote my friend Jennie, “Isn’t it funny when 40 degrees is a heat wave?”

The Zoo, with its many trails and wide open spaces, might not seem like an obvious choice for a February afternoon. Apparently, most people are of that mindset, because the parking lot was borderline deserted when we went the weekend after Snopocalyspe.  The main pathways were pretty clear, and I only had trouble getting the stroller past a few spots where the snow had collected in slushy lumps. 

It was fun to see Nikita, the polar bear, with real snow and ice in his habitat.   And the boys loved watching a zookeeper toss snowballs to a frisky monkey. However, Jennie and I were not loving it when they followed suit and tried to throw snowballs into the sumatran tiger enclosure!

When cold fingers and toes prevailed, we hit some of the indoor attractions: Discovery Barn, Tropics, Snakes Alive, and Polar Bear Passage.

If you’ve only been to the Kansas City Zoo on a bustling summer day, you are missing out on a unique experience.  In the winter, your encounters with the animals are more direct and intimate. And if you venture off of the main trails, you are free to make a solitary exploration of the frozen landscape.

Notes: If you go when snow is on the ground, wear shoes with decent traction; the paths will be slick. Most of the concession stands and restaurants are closed from Nov through Feb, but the Beastro Cafe in the main building is open year round. We always stop there on our way in for a bag of $2 popcorn or a soft pretzel.  I hear that the chili is also quite good.

http://www.kansascityzoo.org/

()