zoo

On our last full day visiting California, Dan’s parents took us to the San Francisco Zoo because we all know of Mio’s love for animals! It was the first time visiting the SF Zoo for both Mio and myself, and Dan hadn’t been since he was a child, so it was a fun experience for everyone!

Ostriches at the San Francisco Zoo — Ostriches!

Mio and Grandma at the SF Zoo — Mio and Grandma by a statue of a lion.

Gorilla at the San Francisco Zoo — A gorilla at the SF Zoo

Comparison of Dan to the size of a gorilla

Mio compared to the size of a gorilla. So cute!

I'm the same height as a gorilla! — I’m the same height as a gorilla! But a third of the weight…

Coming towards Mama — Mio running towards me.

Monkey at the San Francisco Zoo — Another monkey. Mio says “ooh ooh ah ah” every time she sees a monkey!

Flamingos! Wearing the colors of the season.

Mio popping out of the prairie dog hole at the San Francisco Zoo — Mio popping out of the prairie dog hole!

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes saying aaayyyooooo â™ª

Turtle lover Mio! — Mio LOVES turtles, so she was really excited to hop on this statue. ã†ã‚‰ã—ã¾ç¾Žæ¡œï¼

Alpaca at the San Francisco Zoo — An alpaca in the children’s section of the zoo.

Peacock at the San Francisco Zoo — A beautiful peacock.

Anteater at the San Francisco Zoo — An anteater at the SF Zoo. I think it was my first time seeing one in person!

Snow leopard at the San Francisco Zoo — A snow leopard!

Koala at the San Francisco Zoo — Adorable koala 🙂

Adorable penguins! — The penguins were so adorable, getting in line for the feeding!

Chubby cheeks at the San Francisco Zoo — Mio watching the penguin feeding in awe.

The San Francisco Zoo was definitely a nice zoo, with lots of animals to see! I can’t wait until the weather gets warmer so that we can take Mio to see the National Zoo in Washington, DC as well. 🙂

On Saturday, our little family took a trip to the Oakland Zoo! I’d never been, and had been telling Dan that we should take Mio once the weather got warmer — since Saturday was surprisingly warm, we seized the opportunity to finally go! Our friends Kayo and Sung-kook and their 16-month old son Jinwoo also happened to be free that day, so we invited them to come with us.

I grew up going to the National Zoo in Washington, DC, which is pretty impressive and much larger, but I really enjoyed visiting the Oakland Zoo for the first time. It was very clean, well-maintained, and very child-friendly — there were lots of open areas where children could run around and climb onto animal sculptures, and a petting zoo where they could actually touch some of the sheep and goats. I think the more intimateÂ size of the zoo actually works in favor for parents with young children, because you can get through the whole zoo (or a lot of it, at least), without getting too exhausted but still be able to see all the animals that kids love to see (monkeys, giraffes, lions, tigers, elephants. etc.).

It was of course Mio’s first time at the zoo, and although she’s a little too young to truly appreciate it, she definitely seemed intrigued (and at times, perplexed) by some of the animals at the zoo. Here are some of my favorites from the photos we took at the zoo!

16-month old Jinwoo and 10-month old Mio — Jinwoo saying hi to Mio. "Long time, no see!"

Mio and Jinwoo playing with the "snake eggs"

Mio looking into the stable. — Mio and Daddy at the petting farm section of the zoo.

Look at all those animals, Mio! — Mio looking at the sheep.

A cautious Mio — A very cautious Mio petting the sheep.

"Don't come near me!" — Daddy took Mio right up to the goats.

She looks scared by the goats... — She looks quite apprehensive...

Our family's first time at the Oakland Zoo — A family picture.

The Kim family, a month before their second baby's arrival! — Kayo, Sung-kook, and Jinwoo... soon to be a family of four!

Look at those magnificent stripes! — A tiger with magnificent stripes!

Lions at the Oakland Zoo — We ended our trip with the lions - the king of the jungle!

You can see the full set of photos we took on our outing to the Oakland Zoo in the slideshow below:

San Francisco Zoo

A Day at the Oakland Zoo