‘Animals’ Articles at Sweetnicks

A quiet zoo in upstate New York, it’s the perfect place to visit for a bit of family fun.

So, last week we were in Canada for a few days (more on that coming soon), and we decided to overnight in Rochester, New York on the way home. When we were eating breakfast in the hotel the next morning, I checked out what was in the area, as we wanted to poke around a bit before heading home. I saw that we were less than ten miles away from the Seneca Park Zoo, a zoo that we haven’t been to, and with my kids, a zoo is usually a sure thing.

Well, it turns out Nick wasn’t in the mood for a zoo, but he also wasn’t keen on my follow-up suggestions of the Jell-O or brewery museums, so with a little gentle coaxing, we were off to the zoo, which pretty much put my 9-year-old in seventh heaven. Because if it involves any kind of animals, she’s all in (and once we got there, Nick admitted that it was a good stop, so win/win).

It was really easy to find and parking is free (hurrah for small wins!), and we were lucky enough to find a space near the entrance. I didn’t want to spend the entire day there, because we still had a 4+ hour drive home, but when I saw people leaving at 11:30 am, when the zoo only opened at 10, I figured it was the perfect size for the time we had, and I was right.

It’s bigger than Turtleback Zoo, but smaller than the Bronx Zoo, which made it exactly what we wanted. The zoo was also laid out in a very simple and straight-forward manner. No traipsing all over to find animals you missed, it was actually one of the most cleanly laid out zoos we’ve visited.

They had a good assortment of animals, both big and small, and they had a good mix of animals that you would typically see in a zoo, like elephants and lions, along with animals that you don’t see quite as often, like hyenas and Golden Lion Tamarin. And to be honest, the breadth of animals there didn’t matter because we seriously could have stayed and watched the baboons and otters for hours. HOURS.

The otter was so adorable and obsessed in doing laps. He looked so zen swimming back and forth in his area, he would swim towards us with his face up, and turn around at the end and flip over and swim back the other way on his back. It was the cutest thing ever.

And the baboons? Well, they were so hysterical to watch. So interactive with each other. Whether they were cleaning their nails, looking for bugs in each other’s fur, or chasing their friends around their enclosure, they were just funny, and it was hard to tear ourselves away.

…

Do you want to throw a woodland animal-themed party? I’ve got some ideas…

When we were planning Madeline’s birthday party last year, she had two ideas. She either wanted to have it at the animal shelter or a pool party. We have done it at the shelter before, and loved it. I didn’t want to repeat it so soon. And as far as the pool party, with a February birthday, that means it would be inside, and most hotels that do pool parties do not have lifeguards, so that means parents (ahem, me) are responsible for all the little kids swimming. And while Madeline swims like a mermaid, I’m not keen on having the responsibility for the other kids, whose swimming abilities I’m not familiar with.

So, we were back to square one.

Knowing how much she loves animals, I wanted to try and keep that element in for her, and we somehow ended up focusing on woodland animals.

You know, all those cute and furry creatures you would find in the forest. When you’re planning a party, although I love a spontaneous fete just as much as the next person, I love having a theme too, because it makes it a fun challenge to keep everything following the same thread … food, invites, décor, favors, what have you.

First, the invitation. The photo above is the invitation I used. Ok, not exactly a woodland animal, but cute nonetheless, and Madeline didn’t approve of the first design I made. For this one, I used a picture I had taken at one of our many zoo trips (I loved that the goat’s mouth was open! This goat in particular was at the Baltimore zoo, and we brushed him and his friends while we were there), and added the text. Once I was done, I got it printed at Costco as a matte photo (very inexpensive), and picked up envelopes at Staples.

Next, the entertainment. We decided to hire someone to bring animals to the party for Madeline and her guests to learn about and interact with. Most companies that do this focus on animals like snakes and lizards and such reptiles … no thank you. But I was able to find a company that had a really wide variety of other animals, and many that would fit nicely into our woodland creature theme. Eyes Wild was wonderful to work with. From their list of available animals, I gave them 6 animal choices, and they make the final cut based on other engagements and which animals were feeling like being entertaining that day. Many of their animals are rescues, which you know we loved even more. The host that came was wonderful with the kids, and he brought a white fox, a hedgehog, a chinchilla, a groundhog, and a porcupine.

…

Visit: Seneca Park Zoo {Rochester, New York}

{How To} Planning a Woodland Animal Party