Part 13 in a series about our trip to Alaska in late June through mid-July, 2011.

At the beginning of our second full week in Alaska, we took an expedition to the Alaska Zoo.  It’s a zoo that only has animals native to Alaska (except for the tigers and camels and maybe a couple more).  Dad has a family pass.  I’m not sure that the zoo had in mind getting in 5 adults and 8 kids (on just one visit) when they issued him that pass but it was a sweet deal for us!

Before we even left the parking lot, we did have a little bit of fun.  I shut Meggan’s van door and, oops!  The keys were still in there with the door already locked.  Thankfully, we’d cracked the windows because it was such a “hot” day (stifle your laughter, non-Alaskan readers).  So Nik went fishing, literally, with Dad’s fishing pole and thankfully, caught himself a big set of keys.

After all that excitement, we had a great time walking through the zoo.  The animals were out in full force.  Ellie was totally adorable with the animals, getting very excited and making lots of funny grunting noises every time she saw a new one!

My dad was in heaven with so many of his grandkids in one place.  Even with all these, there are still 4 more with one more soon to arrive!

We capped off the day by visiting the snack shop at Costco for some tasty treats.  I had what may have been the best toasted-almond chocolate-covered ice cream bar that I have ever had.  I’m still dreaming about it now, back in Baltimore.

Thanks Dad for a fun day at the zoo and for that delicious ice cream bar!