Chris and I first went to the NC Zoo when we were about 5 months pregnant with Davis and we always had wanted to go back. So we planned to spend a weekend with Aimee in Durham and decided to take a family zoo trip. Here are some fun pics from our time there last weekend. My parents came down with us and we had a fun filled weekend. The NC Zoo has two main continents of animals - North American and Africa and it is very spread out.
Sleeping cougar
Lazy cougar- look at those claws
Alligator
Sea lions - these are one of my favorite animals to watch at the zoo. They swim and twist and turn and they make kids smile and squeal.
Davis trying to tickle their belly.
Another favorite- the Panda Bear. He was busy playing with his plastic toy.
Otter
Aunt Aimee and Davis posing with the bison.
Davis was happy to be sprayed by the little mist stations set up around the zoo.
Red river hogs
Lion eating on a bone.
The chimpanezes are so fun to watch. I also took some video of them.... there was one small monkey would was cared for by another chimp in the bunch because her mother was no longer living. 
Davis riding on the monkey's back
We watched the afternoon feeding where the zookeeper threw watermelon in to their habitat and they tried to catch it. It was great they would stand and wave their hands asking for more snacks. The little monkey here is trying to get to his "aunts" snack.
The Thinker... Hondo used to be the alpha male but has retired from this position. He likes to sit by the glass and "people watch". 
Playing with Grammy.
This was as close as we got to the giraffes... oh well. No slimy tongues for us today.
Elephant
Grammy and Davis
An albino alligator- they called this exhibit the Swamp Ghost
Baboons running after each other.
Snack time- it was warm and we need something to refresh us- Minute Maid lemonade slushy... Yummy. Plus we got 2 free tickets to the carousel so Davis got to ride with both Grammy and Pappy ... this was one of his favorite parts of the trip. He also like the tram that you can ride to different areas of the park.
First ride on the gazelle... we told him to pick an alligator, lion, or something cool.. but he ended up on this.
Getting strapped on.
Next was the zebra with Pappy. All smiles.
Almost ready to go .... we had a full day at the zoo.
Final pics from the Zoo
Newlin family
Stickley Family Shot (minus Stacey)
