Grizzly bear adventure

Last weekend, Devon and I went on an overnight adventure at the MN Zoo. They have a few overnight family events. I thought Devon would choose "Dolphins from dusk to dawn" - he loves the dolphins, and I thought he'd jump at the chance to sleep in the nice indoor area next to their exhibit area. To my surprise, he chose "Growlin' with the grizzlies," which involved sleeping outside. On an unseasonably cool September night.

It was a fun event. The evening starts with some "behind the scenes" looks at the bears. They have a nice large outdoor exhibit, but come into a caged area at night. We got to see them pretty close up, and talk to the zookeepers who take care of them. We made the bears "popsicles" - frozen treats made of celery, cantaloupe, apples, and sweet potato. Because we had a relatively small group - it turns out not many people want to sleep outside on an unseasonably cool September night - they also took us to see the tigers. This ended up being Devon's favorite part... standing about 5 feet away from the caged tigers, one of whom did some mighty impressive growling.

Making yummy bear treats

After our visits with the animals, we also learned some fun facts about bears (their sense of smell is better than bloodhounds - the analogy given was that if you buried a pizza under 10 feet of concrete, a grizzly could not only smell that it was there, but could also distinguish the smells of the different kinds of toppings and the smells of each person that had handled the pizza). We decorated t-shirts, played a game, had a snack, and then bundled down to sleep.

The zoo has a cave-like area with a viewing area for the bears. Devon and I bundled down to sleep there in our cozy sleeping bags. I thought he'd be afraid but he was a trooper. He handled the cold, and sleeping outside with a great sense of adventure. I was actually impressed with him throughout the experience - he was the youngest kid there, but the most interactive. He asked lots of great questions about bears, and fully participated in everything.

Ready for bed

In the morning, we had breakfast, watched the bears come out on exhibit and eat their popsicles, and headed home. It was a nice time, but it was lovely to sleep in my warm cozy bed the next night.

Eating yummy bear treats