A Great Zoo day

In Madison we have a free zoo, so days like today are perfect for exploring it with the kids. The great thing about it being free is that it doesn't really matter if the lions or polar bears aren't out, we just move on to the things that are and thank God we haven't had to pay $50 to get in. Today we found the red panda for the first time, he was really cool. The male polar bear hasn't returned from New York yet, where he was sent to mate and his female companion isn't much fun to watch. I think I saw her backside once. The otter was having a blast swimming, and the tiger was on the prowl (he made me a little nervous, I checked the fence more than once to see if I thought he could jump out of his habitat). We had a great day and with the temps in the 40s it felt like spring (Mitch wore shorts, but I made the kids wear their coats).