Lufkin Zoo

Yes you read that right.  The small town of Lufkin does have a zoo.  Kelvin heard that it was pretty good so we thought we would check it out.  It was $40 for a family pass for a year or $5 for adults (the kids were free).  We went for the family pass as we thought it was something that we could really take advantage of.  That was such a smart move!!!
The zoo was a pretty decent size and they had all the basic animals there.  There were peacocks roaming around everywhere which was pretty cool plus with it being such a small town, there was practically no one there.  We went with some friends from church and work and their little baby girl last Friday.  It was great because Lydia could run around and I wasn't worried at all about her getting lost.  We got to get up close to the animals, we didn't feel rushed, there was plenty of room to roam around, it was just great.  It opened at 9am and we were there right on the dot which was good since it is Texas and it is Summer!  They actually came from Georgia and said that the humidity that day was just like it is in Georgia.  The zoo was definitely a hit and I will be taking the kids there during the weeks when Kelvin is working to get some exercise for me and some fun for them.  It's a win win!!

She had just gotten caught trying to sneak past the ropes!

Not so sure about the seals.

"Wow!  This is cool!"

She loves her Daddy!!

 

 

I still can't get over how curly her hair is!

Now this was cool.  They have a learning program for kids and a bunch of 10 year old's made "animals" out of cardboard and then the zoo workers put them in the Lion and Jaguar cage with their meat.  The lion was lame and just found the meat and then took it off the cardboard.  The Jaguar on the other hand attacked the cardboard.  He pounced on it, tore it apart with his teeth, dragged it in the water to drown it, etc.  It was pretty amazing to see.

"Giraffe!  Giraffe daddy, look!"

The classic Lion's mouth water fountain.

There was a train there that was actually used in Lufkin in the 1920 that was donated to the zoo.  They painted it up and put it on display.  It was HUGE!  I didn't know trains were so big back then.  They are not that big now days.

After the zoo we went on a train ride.  It was only $1 and they took you all around the zoo, over the lake, and into the woods.  It was well worth the $1.  Lydia loved it.

When we pulled up to the zoo we found a couple fun parks for kids to play that would be great for a picnic lunch.  Well one of those parks was about 20-30 feet from the shore line of the lake.  I thought that was pretty cool until I saw this sign.  Can we say scary?  I guess the alligators don't bother people unless they are provoked so no one is too concerned about it but it still made my toes cringe a little.