Camden Children's Garden

On Saturday we went to the Camden Children's Garden which is adjacent to Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ (definitely not a place known for it's lovely gardens). I was pleasantly surprised by this little gem of a garden and it's fairytale, Alice in Wonderland and Dinosaur themes. There were also a few rides and several activities for kids. What there were not a lot of were children and that was a shame!

(Love that hummingbird carousel creature above!)

A gorgeous pink azalea blooming in front of a vibrant yellow forsythia, color bliss!

I want this huge dino in my garden.

He's made entirely out of car parts!

Cherry tree blooming in front of Alice's tea cups.

The cougar is forever chasing the rooster on the carousel.

They even have a butterfly house!

Did you know that Walt Whitman spent his last years in Camden?

I didn't but here is his statue in the gardens and you can visit his house too.

"A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books."

Walt Whitman

A nice view of Philadelphia.

Adventure Aquarium

 I stood for quite awhile trying to get a good photo of a clown fish and the funniest thing is that everyone that passed me said, "Look, the Nemo fish!". Even people that spoke different languages:)

A perfect Saturday at Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. I think I prefer this one to the aquarium in Baltimore. Far less crowds, easy to park. One of the things that was really neat is that they played nice classical music as you looked at the fish. The two things worked very well together.

The face on the green sawfish above us was hilarious.

The jelly fish below was feeding I think. Click on the photo for a larger view. Looks like some small particles of food are caught in the hair like tentacles.

I love the leafy sea dragons, just wish I could get a better photo.

This one looks like he's been around for a million years!

I like this shark ray or bowmouth guitarfish.

Adventure Aquarium is great for kids, lots of touch pools. 

This ray tank was so much fun and the rays seemed to enjoy the interaction.

The hippos were really active today!

Biting an old tire. Look at those teeth!

Zoe found a great place to take a rest! 

"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever."

Jacques Yves Cousteau

Philadelphia Zoo

Yesterday I posted photos of all the birds we saw at the zoo on Sunday, today it's the mammal's turn.

The squirrel monkeys are absolutely adorable. I couldn't take my eyes off this one. The back light coming in made for some great photos.

Aww... he's sleepin' :)

Lemur in the rare mammal house.

One of my favorites to watch, the pygmy marmoset.

This is the first time I have been able to get a decent photo as they move very fast and the lighting in their environment is low.

Young tiger yawning. I know zoos are not the perfect place for animals but Philadelphia's Big Cat Falls seems like a nice place for them, way better than what they had before. I don't see them pacing like I did in the past.

Some sort of squirrelish creature in the small mammal house.

I think he's a Harris' antelope squirrel.

Beautiful face on this Canadian lynx.

Young gorilla is having fun looking at the people.

Polar bear taking a snooze before dinner.

Asiatic Black Bear

The giant river otters were so active today, chattering, squealing and chasing each other like mad!



One of my favorites, the slow loris.

I'm glad he's slow because they keep him in a dark room with only a very dim blue light on. I had to set my shutter speed super low.