Colorado Day Four

Yes, another great day in Colorado. It is so nice here! Day Four's adventure was the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and the Seven Falls. Normally we would not choose to see another zoo on vacation when we have such a nice free zoo at home. Shannon mentioned that it was pretty good. So, we gave it a chance and it really is a very nice zoo. It is on Cheyenne Mountain, which especially adds to the beauty of the zoo. So many beautiful views! And you can really get pretty close to most of the animals. We had a really great time here. Very neat! Then, we hit Seven Falls at night to see the lights on the water.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

They have an enormous giraffe exhibit where you can feed them giraffe crackers. I didn't count them all, but I know there were over 10 giraffes there and they all come right over to you where you can touch them. Adley said she wanted to feed them, but then dropped the cracker, so TJ had to finish for her.

As you walk throughout the zoo, you get higher and higher. This is the view from the Viewing Tower.

Another view.

Jaylyn getting a closer look.

Do you think these elephants know how much people pay to live with a view like that?

The wallaby area is fun. They actually are free to roam around across the path, etc. A zoo helper had a baby wallaby to pet.

We liked the grizzly bears too! They were right there at the glass playing in the water. They were REALLY playing rough and having a great time. Quite the entertainment.

Another opportunity to pose. They were trying to hold it's paw, but Adley couldn't reach.

Up higher - more beautiful views.

Now this is what the girls have been waiting for! Ever since we decided to go to Colorado quite a few months back, Jaylyn was truly excited to go "ride horses". Now, those that know Jaylyn know that she really likes animals, but is usually afraid to be where she can get to them. But, she has decided that horses are her favorite animal and she really wanted to ride and pet one. Most riding places require that you are older and we weren't really sure that should would actually do it. So, when I saw that the zoo did pony rides for a decent price, I knew that was perfect. Jaylyn has had Adley joining in on the horse excitement. All the way here, every day since we have been here, they have asked if they can ride the horses yet!!!!!!!!! (This is numerous times each day.) And today was the day!!! Of course, they weren't right by the entrance either, so Adley proceeded to ask all the way through the zoo about riding the horses. Jaylyn had the map and could see where we were, so she didn't have to ask, thankfully. So, after our picnic lunch with another great view, we did the pony rides and they were smiling ear to ear. While waiting, Jaylyn asked if I could go out there with her, but when they put her on the pony, she was actually fine. And she loved it! Adley did great too. She looked so cute up on that pony. And they both got to pet their pony. It was fun.

Waiting for their turn.

Finally on that pony!

They asked her if she wanted a bigger one or a smaller one. She picked the smaller one. :)

She didn't freak out one bit. She REALLY wanted to ride that pony!

Adley's turn

She was kind of quiet, so I wasn't sure what she was thinking. But, she was definitely smiling!

I could hear them trying to get her to say, "Yee hah!" and some other things, but it didn't sound like she would do it.

She loved riding that horse.

Chipmunks were EVERY WHERE! And obviously used to people and most likely people feeding them. This one was looking at us like, "Where's the food????"

The hippo exhibit was nice too. Of course, I love hippos. They were out of the water for a demonstration when we got there. The caretakers were doing some "training" with them and then would reward them with food. They put about 5 GIGANTIC carrots in one of the hippos mouth. The rest of the treats were all fruit.

They had a lot of neat monkeys and gorillas, etc. You could see them all really well. This gorilla was giving us all a show by picking his nose and eating his findings. :)

Seven Falls

At night, they do comuterized lighting onto the water falls and it really does look neat. The girls really loved it. Adley said, "WOW!". :) You can climp up 224 steps to the top or you can ride the 10 story elevator up to see the falls. Of course, we took the elevator. :) It was very dark by the time we got there and we were exhausted from walking all over cheyenne mountain at the zoo.

This is the girls inside the tunnel that leads to the elevator. It is a tunnel inside the mountain.

I couldn't get a very good picture of the falls at night with my camera. This is a view from the bottom of the falls. Pretty lights.

This is another view without the fancy colors.