Month: August 2023

2023 Arkzooforce

Learning About Flight

The National Museum of the US Air Force had some fun hands-on exhibits.

The air blowing upwards between the balls created low pressure and the higher pressure on the outside pushed them together.

Which shape of airplane gets pushed back the furthest in the wind tunnel?

They played with this for a long time, watching the airplane glide down the zip line and land on the runway.

Flying (or rather crashing) the space shuttle

Steering the helicopter

Landing the plane (her approach may have been a little too fast)

2023 Arkzooforce

National Museum of the United States Air Force

Post author By John
Post date August 23, 2023
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2023 Arkzooforce

Flowers

Post author By Leanne
Post date August 23, 2023
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I regret not taking photos of the gardens at the Cincinnati Zoo. They were beautiful! My favourite was the butterfly garden with plants that attract pollinators.

2023 Arkzooforce

Galapagos tortoise

This photo doesn’t capture how big these really are and how slowly they walk, but it was neat to see! Especially since we just learned about them last year.

2023 Arkzooforce

Birds, Monkeys and Insects

Post author By Leanne
Post date August 23, 2023
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Poppy loves birds of all kinds. She said they were “so cute!”

This was another creature which Poppy deemed “so cute!”

Pollinators: Daisy and Maggie enjoyed looking at all the dead butterflies on display (not the live ones in the hot humid butterfly room).

They had a really cool tunnel for ants that went all the way from one room to another. The ants were busy carrying leaf pieces from that plant in the display case back and forth.

They could see how many insects they weighed.

2023 Arkzooforce

Riding the Carousel

The older three kids and I rode the carousel over and over while Poppy napped in her stroller. It was by far their favourite zoo attraction.

2023 Arkzooforce

Manatees and Hippos

I loved watching the manatees AKA “sea cows” swim and eat their lettuce. They’re so adorable. A zoo guide chatted with our kids about them and let them touch a bone from a manatee skeleton.

Fiona is a famous hippo who was born prematurely but survived. The library has books about her. We got to see her cuddling with the other hippos. Another adorable underwater giant!

Look closely. There are 4 hippos cuddled up together.

2023 Arkzooforce

Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Post author By John
Post date August 22, 2023
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We parked under giant solar panels, which power the zoo train and provide shade to the vehicles (nice to return to a vehicle that is not an oven).

We bought the rides package which allowed us to enter the zoo early before it opened at 10am, and gave us unlimited rides on the train and carousel.

2023 Arkzooforce

We may have misplaced Poppy for a few minutes

Post author By John
Post date August 22, 2023
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We assumed she would be crying outside the door but no, she was busy down the hall looking through the window.

Falling is funny

2023 Arkzooforce

Poppy was a little tired

I guess running around in 35C weather will make you a little sleepy.

2023 Arkzooforce

We watched an interesting and informative show about predators and prey. There was a porcupine, a tortoise, a tegu lizard, and a snake. It was neat to hear the keeper tell us animal facts in a biblical context.

Contrary to the sign, this is a red tegu (lizard).

2023 Arkzooforce

Lunch at Emzara’s kitchen

Post author By John
Post date August 21, 2023
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It was an interesting experience. You pay before you go in. Then you sit wherever you want. Grab a disposable plate and head up to the buffets. You also get your own drinks. Absolutely no wait-staff. Food was OK and the price wasn’t too bad especially when compared with the Ark Encounter base admission price.