Last week, our local zoo hosted a members’ appreciation day!

When I saw they were giving out free tran ride tickets, I knew we had to go, and even though it was over 100 degrees while we were there, we had a wonderful time!

The zoo had all sorts of special events planned, including local business exhibits…

bounce houses…

zookeepers answering questions…

cute babies {oh, wait – he belongs to us!}…

animals showing off…

hanging out with gorillas…

and the real thing…

and just hanging out!

By far the favorite part of members’ day for the boys and I was getting to go behind the scenes of the aquarium!

The tour took us up above the shark reef area of the aquarium! Several of the zoo’s volunteer scuba divers were there to show us around and answer questions!

These guys thought it was so funny that the boys wanted their picture with them, but the boys think they have a pretty cool job!

We actually got to look down into the shark reef from above, seeing sea turtles and sting rays and even an injured shark who had been bitten by another shark!

The zoo has some pretty amazing jellyfish on display which we got to see from above…

And then below in the actual aquarium!

Such a cool experience to see what goes on behind the scenes at the aquarium!

And talk about a cool experience – we needed a little water to help us out on this super hot day!

We go to the zoo all the time, but members’ day had lots of magic in store for us! I’m so glad we made time to go!

{To top it all off, I won a membership to an awesome local museum from a drawing at members’ day! Woohoo!}

Have you enjoyed a special day at a local attraction this summer?