The Mooquarium

On Saturday we picked up the ticket pass from the library and took the kids to the Zooquarium for a few hours. It's really just an outdoor petting zoo and a room with about 20 fish tank displays, but the girls love it. When we headed out Catherine thought we were going to the Museum (referring to the Natural History Museum that Daddy takes them to once in a while) and she still had that in her head when she discovered it was the Zooquarium, so now she refers to it as the Mooquarium.

It's small and I probably wouldn't go if it wasn't free, but it's fun to watch Mary run from one little tank to the next saying, "Ooooohh... a fif (fish)! Oooooohhhh... a turtle! And another turtle! And ANOTHER turtle! Oooooohhh... shells. Oooooooh... What's that Daddy?"

Catherine loves to feed the animals in the petting zoo - she was an old pro.


Mary tried to feed the deer one little kernal of corn in her fingertips, but wouldn't get close enough for them to reach it anyway.


Michael showed her how to hold her hand flat, and she finally managed to get a piece of corn to a deer.


And as soon as it's mouth touched her hand she jumped back about 3 feet.


But eventually she got the hang of it.


*Side Note: I'm hoping this did not contribute to Mary's recent series of bad dreams that involve animals coming into the house and eating her.*

Their favorite part by far is the Zooquarium Zoo-Choo. It's a train. It doesn't move, not even an inch, but they think it's the best toy ever.


They played on it for about an hour.



Sometimes Michael and I could get away with sitting on a nearby picnic table, but sometimes they insisted we ride while they drove the train (usually to St. Louis or to the candy store).


This was about the 30th trip to St. Louis. Can you tell?