Best Time of Year to Hit the Bronx Zoo...

In my opinion, the best time of year to hit the Bronx Zoo is right about now... It's basically just you, your kid, and the animals (plus some tourists here and there).

So I decided since the weather for the rest of the week isn't supposed to be so great, I'd make a quick visit over there yesterday afternoon with Pearl. It was probably my best visit yet because it was the first time I didn't have to dodge tons of screaming kids.

Sure, the weather isn't ideal during the winter months, but it's fine if you bundle up. The best part of the afternoon was that we were right in time for the sea lion feeding (usually my luck is that I just miss it). It was really nice not to have to elbow tourists in order to get to the front row to watch the action. FYI: Sea lion feedings are at 10:30am and 3pm daily, and the penguin feeding is at 3:30pm daily.

As if the freaking sea lions "laying down," blowing bubbles in the water, or waving their little flippers wasn't cute enough, there's actually a baby sea lion swimming around too! There are no words to describe the cuteness of this little gal... Her name is Katie and she was born July 14th, 2008. I mean, is it illegal to say that she might even be cuter than my kid? Because she might be. The above picture I took really says it all...

The other highlight for Pearl (who's just shy of a year old) was the peacocks. I guess they were feeling pretty brave due to the lack of visitors because they were literally everywhere. They just waddle around right along the path with you.

While we're on the topic of the Bronx Zoo, I wanted to urge everyone to click here to fill out a quick and easy message which will go to our legislators to urge them not to cut funding to New York's 'Living Museums'... This is particularly important to us Bronxites who enjoy visiting the Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden, and Wave Hill. These institutions will all suffer immensely if the proposed budget cuts go through....

Click here to check out an informative piece from today's Daily News which sums up the proposed cuts and the effects on our 'Living Museums.'

~Erin