Denver Zoo

Last weekend we had a nice family trip to the Denver Zoo. This was Cora's (and Peter's) first time at a zoo. We stayed at the CRC Camp called Long Scraggy Ranch near Conifer. They had a nice two room cabin with a kitchenette and bathroom.
The indoor pool building at the ranch. We enjoyed swimming, even if the water was a little cold...
Peacocks flaunted their plumes all around the zoo.
Nap time for Peter. He was a trooper at the zoo taking turns with Cora in the stroller.
Feeding a Lorikeet or Lorie.
Our friend, the Mandril. Aka "Rafiki".
This big guy gave us a lot of entertainment. When we arrived at his area he was pacing in front of the glass window. Cora sat down with a handful of Teddy Grahams right in front of the window, and Mr. Mandril took a seat right in front of her. She was feeling generous, I guess, so she held out a teddy graham to him. Mr. Mandril swatted at her cracker. Thankfully the glass separated the two little monkeys. Cora was startled at first, and then I think she realized that she was safe and she busted into laughter. Thus began the Zoo's most successful side show of the day. She proceeded to tease him with Teddy Grahams and he responded with swatting, watching her every move and occasionally showing us his very large fangs. Groups of visitors cycled through the exhibit while we sat and had our snack and Cora and the mandril gave a nice little show. Everybody loved it - seeing an animal at a zoo actually do something is a big thrill! We hoped the mandril was just as happy for some entertainment as we were, and that we weren't aggravating him...There were no signs saying "Do not pretend to feed the monkeys" so, as far as we could tell, we weren't breaking any rules!