Cuyahoga Valley National Park

It has waterfalls? While it is a beautiful park and it's origin came to be because of people in the area wanting to conserve the park... It is also very much chopped and broken up with housing developments and the signs of Cleveland Metroparks still line the park. I know it's listed as one of the 58 National Parks but it seems to be an odd partnership.

The girls were able to see a partial lock demonstration and learn about the shipping history which helped grow Ohio's economy and we were able to see quite a bit of wildlife. It is a beautiful park.... but it truly has an atmosphere different from any other National Park we have visited. I'm not sure if it is a good thing or not. I'd rate it as a 6 out of 10.

Brandywine Falls

Cleveland Zoo

While in Michigan we took a weekend trip with my sister to the Cleveland Zoo in Ohio. We pick zoos because they are a fun mix up to hiking and museums. Because the reciprocal with the AZA only discounts admission to 50% at most larger zoos so we do not pick many and some on the reciprocal list we intend to visit are free. We joined at the Potter Park Zoo in Lansing for the membership benefits because Denver does not reciprocate. Cleveland let us in for free? After closer examination of the list though, I think it may have been an error on employee part?

We chose Cleveland because they have koalas and our three year old had been learning about marsupials, monotremes and placental mammals this year. The other reason was the approximately to a NP we were visiting on this trip. This was a good way to show her some variety outside of kangaroo's we have in Denver.

Things we liked- species variety.
Zoo layout.

Things we disliked- touristy.
Why is there fast food in a zoo?

 They are pretty adorable.

The girls chose to spend their money on a camel ride and later regretted missing the train and carousel. #firstworldkidbudgetingproblems?

A1&2 were quite excited being able to see the koala jump from perch to perch and catching it on video. It was also fun to observe how they move on the perches vs. them sleeping inside. 

The zoo was great, it took us nearly the entire day to get through and explore all of the exhibits but I think it is best for younger children.