My apologies to the Maryland Zoo! In my haste to post all those giraffe pics, I totally skipped from the National Zoo to Binder Park. Forgive me, MZ!

Like the sign, love the zoo. Of course it had nothing to do with the fact that they had a giraffe feeding encounter…

Okay, so this dude cracks me up. Look at all the detail in that little head. Look at those eyes and eyelashes. Ostriches are like little wanna-be giraffe birds.

Love, love, love elephant babies. I can’t remember this little guy’s name, but he put on a fun little show. He appeared to have a mild case of ADHD. Or maybe he’s just a normal 15-month-old. Elephant.

Whaddya mean I’m too big for my tire swing already??

Best. Part. Of. The. Day.

In our experience, cheetahs are the most active of all the cats. Maybe that’s why they’re so skinny.

These are two chimpanzees wrestling. We spent a very long time observing the 10 or so chimps in this fun exhibit. Several of the pictures Gabe took are X-rated. Not sure if these guys (and gals) are like that all the time or if we just happened upon them during Frisky Hour. The girls and I couldn’t stop giggling. Mature, I know.

We talked the girls out of the $5 camel rides and talked them into the $2 banana ride instead. When it comes to spending money, our Loose Zoo Rules are as follows:

1.) If it involves giraffes, we do it. No matter the cost. (And the MZ gave us free giraffe feeding tix!)

2.) If we get free ride tickets, we use them. If we don’t, we don’t ride. Unless it’s a camel. Except we’ve done that twice now, so sometimes we substitute banana rides to save $.

3.) If a ride is only $1 and very fun-looking, we’ll fork over three bucks. Except not always.

4.) We bring our own lunch or head to McDonald’s after the zoo. Zoo food can be expensive.

5.) Nothing from the gift shop unless you use your own money. Except when you’ve done 38 zoos, and your mom feels sorry for you because your big sisters have money and you don’t so she buys you a stuffed gorilla for $7.99 and herself a giraffe head bank for $4.99.

Our rule system is very structured and easy to follow.

And there you have it–the Maryland Zoo. We liked it. Seven hours later, we were back in Ohio, dreaming of our next Zoo Trip!