Knie's Kinderzoo

I've been meaning to take Marion to the Knie's Kinderzoo in Rapperswil ever since I heard about it last summer. Unfortunately that pesky pregnancy got in the way...

The zoo opened in March for the 2009 season and I took Marion and Betti there on Monday.

Word of advice: definitely go to the zoo on an overcast weekday! No one was there and it was fabulous. We didn't have to wait for anything!

And there is plenty to wait for at the zoo. There are pony rides, camel rides, and elephant rides. You can feed the elephants and the camels. And there is a seal show!

Within our first half hour Marion had already ridden a pony, a camel, and an elephant. She loved every minute of it.

The elephant area was interesting in that you had to enter the ring through a narrow dorr and then climb onto a platform to get on the elephant. Unfortunately I couldn't go in there because Betti and her stroller were with us. So I let her go into the elephant area by herself. She did really well and listened to the man running the rides. However, right before she was to get on the elephant I noticed, with horror, that she was doing what looked like a pee-pee dance. Luckily she didn't pee all over the elephant but I was pretty sure she was going to for awhile and visions of being escorted out of the zoo flashed through my head.

After the elephant ride we rode the horse drawn train to kill some time before the event Marion had talked about all morning- the seal show. Apparently it made quite an impression when my mother brought Marion to the zoo back in April.

The show did not disappoint. The seals do all sorts of tricks, including climbing stairs, jumping off platforms, and sliding down slides. Marion wouldn't clap for them for some reason, although she did boogy to the show music.

Afterwards we got a souvenir- a picture with one of the seals.

The woman directing everyone who was getting a picture gave instructions beforehand in German. She also spoke English so she translated- "Do not touch the seal, she is a naughty girl." Don't have to tell me twice!

It was a great day. Marion was well behaved and listened. It helped to have an abundance of things to bribe her with. We'll definitely go back, on a cloudy weekday!