Zoo Spooktacular

One of our favorite fall traditions is to go to the Dickerson Park Zoo for their annual Spooktacular. We have had unusually warm weather (80's!) for a few days so we chose to go before that comes to an end this weekend when the temps dip back down to the 50's.

Allyson was Dorothy and Nicole decided to be Pocahontas. Here are some pictures from the evening. 

There are different "themes" to various parts of the zoo. Here we have the Flintstones. Kind of sad to realize the girls have no clue what they are.

You can't really tell but this is a lighted bridge. Pictures were hard since everything was dark.

Giant spiders

Angry Birds

Correction: Angry ZOO Birds

The petting zoo was open.

This cow kept sticking its big, black tongue out. Ew...

Entering Alice in Wonderland

Where the Wild Things Are. I love all of the amazing artwork people have done.

One of the things I most enjoy is walking the path lined with carved pumpkins. Some of them are so creative. This year I wasn't quite as impressed... maybe just the wrong day. But still, seeing so many carved pumpkins is fun.

There was an area for games, too. This was a mad science lab. You can't see the scientist but he's behind the table. Nicole liked this one because she's taking a "mad science" course after school every Monday.

The Flip the Frog game was having some technical difficulties but Daddy fixed it so we got to play.

The girls each won a coloring book.

Dorothy's red slippers started hurting so finished up the yellow brick road on Daddy's shoulders.

Somehow we had never seen the giant turtles before. They were pretty amazing! We also saw lions sleeping (cuddling, actually) together, giraffes sleeping and more. Just couldn't get good pictures in the dark.

A new theme this year was Candyland. It was, in my opinion, the most creative. Wish you could see all the detail from the pictures.

At the end of every theme there is a person giving out candy.

The entire time the girls kept hearing the train whistle. (Of course, it's an extra charge so I'm sure that's why they blew it so often!) Anyway, we rode the train this time. I had a bad headache so it was a bit excruciating but still a good experience. 

While waiting for the train, there were lights on the floor that the kids were dancing on. Nicole was really getting into it!

Saying goodbye to everyone in the station.

Evidently it was a bit excruciating for Dorothy, too. After the first whistle, she held her hands over her ears.

Captain Hook and Tinkerbell were on an island in the lake the train rode around.

Pretty Dorothy.

Silly Dorothy.

After the train ride it was time to go home. We arrived with one very tired little Indian.