Close Ups

Today, we headed over to a nearby zoo to check out some of the animals and enjoy the beautiful spring day.

Casey hadn’t been there in fifteen years, so we were excited to see what the place had to offer.

We had been considering making the drive to the MN Zoo, but the Zollman Zoo at  Oxbow Park is free and only a a 10 minute drive away.

Wasn’t too difficult of a decision.

Almost immediately we were psyched. There were very few people and you get up extremely close to all of the animals. Many of the animals here were previously injured and unable to return to the wild, others are “surplus” from other facilities

We started off with the birds…I couldn’t get over how close we were to these bald eagles!

Gavin was eager to point out all the creatures in their cages
   

Next up, the otters. These guys were a riot to watch. Their area also included an elevated pond and waterfall. The slippery little creatures were having a blast!

This zoo focuses on having animals native to our area. I still can’t get over how close up we got to each of them!

   

The best part of this zoo? Because it’s small & local, Gavin was free to roam around without us worrying about him disappearing.

We had to drag him away from the turkeys.

   

Then we crossed over to the other side of the zoo grounds…

Dad! Do you see what I see?!?

 

Look! They’re right over there!

Bison!

Yea, we were that close…it was nuts…

Of course the day wouldn’t be complete without a new collection of sticks!

  

Across from the bison, amidst all the stick collecting, we snuck a peak at the white tailed deer.

Then finally, our little guy started to get worn out. Time for a lift from Daddy!

 

I think these are proof that he had a good time!

Tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer…wonder what next adventure we’ll discover!

Gavin did get a pretty neat new gift from us today…check in tomorrow to see what he received!