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Sunday morning we decided to go over to the Albuquerque zoo with our friend Heidi and her two boys, Miles (4 y/o) and Mason (2 y/o). We left early because we knew it would be another hot day and given that Albuquerque is usually some 10-20 degrees hotter than Santa Fe, we wanted to be done before the heat of the afternoon.

Three kids were packed in the back of a Volvo and I was again amazed how large families with more than 3 kids manage to chauffeur all of them around all the time.

Soon after 10am we arrived at the zoo and were pleasantly surprised by the small number of cars in the parking lot. Looked like it was a very good idea to head there early.

ABQ zoo: Pia, Mason and Heidi

I remember the last time I was there with Pia (just the two of us), she would get bored after two hours and wanted to leave the zoo. It was completely different this time with Miles on her side. The two of them are almost the same age (in fact Miles is 2 months older than Pia) and the two of them really enjoyed each others’ company.

We did the whole loop and I think we saw every single animal on display. Well, except for the chimps, because their “home” is undergoing restoration. One of the highlights was the camel-ride right next to the restaurant in the zoo. Miles and Pia were allowed to ride all alone on the camel and it was the cutest thing to see the two of them on the animal, hugging each other and holding on to the bars of the saddle:

ABQ zoo: Miles and Pia

ABQ zoo: Miles and Pia

Just a few steps away from the camel-ride is also a playground. A huge contraption allows kids to climb, swing and slide. That killed another 30 mins. It was around noon and the temperature was well into the 90s. How do you cool down on a hot day like this one? The zoo-people also thought about this one: next to the playground is a large green grille on the floor with water spouts below it. At seemingly random interval a spout shoots a splash of water into the air and all kids try to get themselves into the stream of water before it disappears again in the grille.

ABQ zoo: Miles and Pia

ABQ zoo: water fun

It took about 20 mins before both kids were completely soaked, but they were still begging for more – you can see them below waiting on top of one of the spouts for more water:

ABQ zoo: waiting for water

After a picnic lunch on the lawn, we finished the loop and topped it off with a train-ride through part of the park.

ABQ zoo: elephants

Just after two o’clock we were at the entrance again and made our way back to the car. Sitting for 4 hours in the summer sun, the temperature in the car had reached way over 100 degrees. It was almost impossible to touch the metal parts, let alone the steering wheel. We opened all windows and doors, switched on the AC and waited a few minutes before we put the kids back in the car.

15 mins into the ride back home to Santa Fe it was quiet in the back and all three kids took their nap for the entire ride back home.

When we left Albuquerque we saw some pretty decent thunderstorm clouds on the horizon and we knew that Santa Fe was about to get a nice afternoon rain. As we excited the highway at St. Francis Drive we could see that the storm had just dumped a massive amount of water over the city. Even some streets were flooded in areas, because the gutters couldn’t handle the load. What was most surprising was the temperature difference: we left Albuquerque we it was close to 100 degrees and the temperature in Santa Fe was 60 degrees after the storm – a 40 degrees drop in less than an hour – wow.