The Lights After Christmas…
It’s a tradition in my family to visit the Toledo Zoo to see the Christmas lights. Typically we try to go the first chance we get (translation: the first non freezing night) between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year temperatures kept us from doing that, and the kids let me know that they were less than pleased with that fact.
On December 26th, the clouds parted and the local Meteorologist informed us that the temperature was going to reach 65 degrees. In late December. We made plans to go see the million plus lights that adorn the trees (and just about every other surface) in the Zoo.
The kids rejoyced.
Well, FC rejoyced, anyway.
The other one really didn’t want anything to do with any of us. Or Christmas lights.
And to think, it all started with a woodchuck in a box at Walbridge Park.
We stumbled across this really neat exhibit in the Amphibians section. Aparently these itty bitty little frogs, the Kihansi Spray Toad actually, are completely extinct in the wild thanks to the construction of a hydroelectric dam built in the African gorge where they resided. Half of their total population is at the Toledo Zoo, the other half is in the Bronx Zoo. Both Zoos are building a successful breeding program with the goal of reestablishing the breed back in the wild.
An interesting fact: The Kihansi Spray Toad is a rare example of a toad that gives birth to fully formed offspring instead of laying eggs. I’ll be storing that tidbit away for the next time it comes up on Jeopardy or in Trivial Pursuit. 
The toads were cute. But the kids weren’t really all that interested in toads. They wanted to see the bugs.
*sigh*
I’ve mentioned that I hate bugs, haven’t I? I really, really, hate bugs.
So… yeah. I didn’t like the bug exhibit. Or the spider exhibit. Or the slimy creepy crawly things exhibit. It was time to beat a path back out to see the lights. Now that the sun had crept below the horizon, anyway.
And the lights… They were fantastic. Draped from limb to limb. I don’t know for certain when the staff starts putting the lights up, I can tell you that when we were visiting for the Boo at the Zoo event there were already lights hanging. Good Lord I’m glad I’m not saddled with that job.
This is my favorite tree, this picture really doesn’t do it justice. It glows like a beacon, you can see it from the Trail every time you pass the zoo. It’s a brilliant bright blue color.
Taken from under the tree, looking up.
The long line of zoo traffic waiting on the Anthony Wayne Trail. I’ve never seen it as busy as it was. Not even on a concert night. People were stacked up ten deep to see any exhibit.
You don’t want to know what I had to do to get close enough to get a shot at the Bald Eagles.
In the end we emerged relatively unscathed despite the crowds and the beginning of a light sprinkle. (That’s my little girl trying to bribe me into buying a second bag of cotton candy with a kiss. Nice try kiddo.) It was the perfect night for the trip, and a nice ending to a solid week of Christmas.
