family fun night 09

Tonight the Oklahoma City Zoo held an annual event called Family Fun Night. It is for zoo members only and so we were able to attend this year! The event is held after regular zoo hours and so zoo members have full reign of the grounds! When we arrived, we first came to a station where volunteers were giving kids temporary tattoos! Ash immidiately wanted to do it. He chose a monkey tattoo and had it put on his hand! He thought it was really cool! Maddox was a bit scared of the tattoo's, though, and so decided to pass on this Fun Night activity.

One of the biggest events of the night was a massive scavenger hunt that took you to every corner of the zoo seeking out information about different animals! When you found the answer to each clue you had to fill in the letter boxes on your clue sheet until you came up with the "secret code word" at the end of the hunt! The boys had fun learning some new info about different animals and also searching for all the clues!

Maddox, of course, is ALWAYS happy to see his friends...the gorillas!

As we sat and ate dinner at the zoo I told Brandon that ONLY for my kids would I venture out to the zoo on a Friday night after a long and particularly tiring week. The boys had plenty of energy to make their way from one end of the zoo to the other but I, on the other hand, had to drink a large lemonade and pick at cotton candy all evening just to keep up...

Before tracking down our final two clues, we made a pit stop for sweets and munchies! The boys, of course, both chose blue cotton candy!!

Our very last clue asked "what the name of the newest baby chimp" was. I was so glad that we took the time to walk all the way over the chimps. We weren't sure if we should because it was getting dark outside, but the treck was well worth it! Not only did we discover the name of the baby ape but we also got an amazing sneak peek at her! I know this picture is very blurry but can you see that tiny baby clinging to her mother's back?? It was the sweetest and coolest thing I have ever seen! This little baby monkey would just cling to its mom's back as the mommy chimp ran around the yard and jumped from one rope to the other! It was definitely a once in a lifetime event to witness!

On our way out of the zoo we stopped for one more photo op...

and as we exited the zoo Maddox changed his mind and decided to get his very own temporary tattoo! He too chose a monkey and had it put on his hand. As we were walking away from the tattoo station I said "Maddox! I'm so glad you got a tattoo!" He was quite proud. I suddenly realized what I had said though and then went on to say with a chuckle, "And Maddox...that's the ONLY time you'll hear me say that sentence!" HA!

Family Fun Night at the OKC Zoo was really cool! As we left the zoo, we placed the answers to our scavenger hunt in a huge box with all the other visitors answers. In the coming days the zoo will pick names out of the box and those happy hunters will win a special prize! Keep your fingers crossed!!