Riverbanks Zoo

Yesterday Eloise and I met a grade school/high school friend and her 2 kiddos at the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC.  A few words to wrap up the day?  Amazing. Most Awesome 16-Month Old Ever. Awesome Animals. The Perfect Sized Zoo for Little Kiddos. Super Easy Drive. Fantastic 3-Year Old Tour Guide. Jack Chillin' in his Wagon. Penguins. Lions. Tigers. Bears. Monkies. Puddles. So, So Going Again - Soon!

The kiddos on board were Sullivan (3 years old), her brother Jack (14 months) and of course, the Monkey (16 months old yesterday!). This was the Monkey's first trip to a zoo and it's Sullivan's favorite place to go  so she was our most perfect 3-year-old tour guide. I'm not lying when I say that little girl had this zoo down-pat.  She knew exactly where to go and where all of the animals were hiding. And she's as smart as a whip so not only did she show Eloise all of the fun animals but she also taught her that a baby kangaroo is a Joey and to be careful in the bird house because they can bite! 

Jack was a little under the weather but he didn't let that get him down.  No way. Not for a day at the zoo! Instead, he brought along his wagon and made himself comfortable in the best animal viewing seat in the house!  The weather was hot but none of us minded because the animals were still out playing and eating and resting in perfect spots so we could all get a birds-eye view.  The monkies were swinging and talking. The penguins were diving, swimming and playing. The elephants were "dusting" themselves to stay cool. And the list just goes on and on.  Did I say this already?? What a cool place!  We will definitely be going again. It's not a huge zoo but it's really just the right size for little ones and has a fantastic array of animals.  It was nothing to go from the monkeys, to the lions, to the tigers all within 15 minutes. And then again when we saw the alligators, zebras, elephants and giraffes!

Our little Monkey was on her all-time best behavior. Per usual, I didn't know what to expect from my little "unpredicable one" and this time, she really could not have been better behaved. I went back and forth on whether or not to bring the stroller in. I knew Eloise wouldn't want to sit in there so I ditched it at the last second and instead, threw a backpack on and carried her in.  She let me carry her and show her all of the animals for the first half of the zoo. Then we stopped and ate lunch and the second half we did a combo of me carrying her and her walking herself.  Great combination if it wasn't for the fact that I didn't get a chance to take too many pics and also, by the time we got back to the car, it finally kicked in how exhausted I was.  Carrying 25lbs around for 3 hours will do that to you I guess.  But while we were there, I was none the wiser. I was having just as much fun checking out all of the animals, fish, snakes (yes, we even got close to the snakes....helps that we had a nice thick piece of glass between them and us. and i really needed to get a look at those copperheads.  need to know what i'm up against.), gators, birds, and the like.

Nothing like taking a break from the animals for some good ole puddle jumping on a hot day.

I highly recommend this outing to those with little ones in the area. It was 90 minutes door to door, tops. It wasn't crowded, but of course that depends on the day of the week and season you go. And as I said, this zoo was really the perfect size for little kids but still had really great animals. 4 thumbs up from the Vail girls!