Knoxville Trip-Day 3

Knoxville is home to a better-than-average zoo, so we decided to visit it on Tuesday. The temperature was in the 50s so we were comfortable in jackets. The zoo had all the standard residents. Zach really liked the elephants and giraffes, but the gorillas freaked him out. We determined likes large animals that are at a distance. The gorillas scared him because they were in their winter homes behind glass. Two of the gorillas were running around and coming very close to hitting the glass. Zach apparently didn’t like his odds against a 400-pound gorilla.

The zoo didn’t take us terribly long to go through. After about 3 hours we had seen everything and were ready to head out. I was glad admission is half-price during the winter. It’s normally $17 for adults and $13 for kids 2-12 so it would have cost us $60 to get in. That seems like a lot for 3 hours of entertainment, but $30 was about right. By comparison the Omaha Zoo is regularly priced at about $12 for adults and $7 for kids. Omaha has an indoor rainforest, an indoor dessert, and a huge aquarium. I’ve taken the kids to Omaha 3 times, and every time we are there for 6-8 hours and I have to talk the kids into leaving. Maybe my expectations for zoos are too high, but for something educational I like see it reasonably priced. I’ll step off my soapbox now.
Sarah, Cheryl and Jennifer wanted to go to a movie that night so I had kid duty. We had a healthy meal of leftover pizza and then played a rousing game of hide and seek. As you can imagine, playing hide and seek in a two bedroom condo is difficult. There are very few hiding places so we exhausted all the good spots in no time flat. Next, the girls wanted to play Trivial Pursuit.
I’ve always been a big fan of Trivial Pursuit, but it’s an effort in futility when playing with a 7 and 8 year old. The game was released 15 years before they were born, so we had to modify the game a bit. Anytime they landed on a piece of the pie, they automatically got it. There were also a lot of hints and clues. I was beaten soundly, but that was ok. The kids had a good time and they were ready to settle down after the game.