Ain't she sweet...

This girl was happilly posed by the boy with the frog, near the entrance of the Zoo. Tomorrow, I'll show you what the kids in the background were looking at.

Catching frogs

This statue is seen by the fish pond at the Sedgwick County Zoo entrance. Before joining CDPB, I didn't realize Wichita had so many nice works of public art. This one brings to mind days gone by, when going barefoot and catching frogs, was fun. I remember catching crawdads, tarantulas, frogs, lightening bugs, june bugs, roly polys, and butterflies. What did you catch?

Paddle boats

Some of the young paddleboaters went straight for the fountain and had fun getting wet. The more mature paddleboaters steered clear of the fountain, and stayed dry.

All aboard!!

These two cute kids are all set to see where they have been, as opposed to seeing where they are going. What does their body language say to you? To me it looks as if they are tuckered out from playing, patiently waiting for the train to fill up, and anticipating their backward journey through the park.

Pony rules

This sign makes the rules clear (I could not ride!). It must be the answers to the most frequently asked - pony ride questions. I know it answered all of mine. Do you see Bo's pony friend in the background, and the train ride to the left? I was allowed to ride the train - and did.

Pony named "Bo"

This is the pony picked out by the little girl, to ride. She wanted a "white one". His name is Bo. We were told, he's the largest of the small ponies to pick from, and the most gentle. She picked a good one. The ponies at this park are well cared for, they have a barn to shelter them from bad weather, a pasture to spend time in when not "working". They have plenty of, food, water, shade, and lots of happy children to ride them. The little girl who rode Bo, is beside me and she'd like for me to tell you... "the ponies can't run". (Of course they can run, but not while being led at the pace of the mechanical lead)

Follow the yellow brick road...

This is really a Yellow Brick Path (not a road), in a Wichita park. I thought by following it, I would at least see a scarecrow, cowardly lion, and tin man, but all there was to see was the yellow brick path, grass, bushes and trees. I recall in the past, there was a tree stump carving of a tornado, but it's no longer there. This is in a nice park - one that has a lake, paddle boats, children's train ride, pony rides, playground equipment, picnic tables and charcoal grills. The little girl in the photo is headed for the pony ride. She wants to ride the white pony, a pony named "Bo".

Baby Bear

While playing, a little girl buckled up her baby bear to go for a ride, where they were going, I do not know. Maybe to visit the other bears at the zoo. Notice this bear has a "bottle" of water. She was taking good care of this little cub. I'm filing this under the category of animals, because after all this is a stuffed "animal". Did you have a favorite stuffed friend in your early years? I had a bear with a music box in it, that played a favorite tune.

Life is but a dream

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

It's a pretty canoe on the Arkansas River. The daughter working, while the mom relaxes. (This photo views best when enlarged)

Another horse

Another horse statue, this one is found on the south side of Bank of America. It includes a girl and her dog. Some of you may remember the series of Downtown Streetscape statues previously posted. This is a member of that collection. There are also some small statues mounted along the streetscape - a frog, a lizard, a squirrel, a cat. It's such a nice walk along Douglas street - especially in the company of children who excitedly point out what they are seeing. If you missed the photos, and are interested, you can select the category "City Art" from the sidebar to view these nice works of art.

``Hi-ho, Silver, away''

Someone found a creative use for old chrome car bumpers - this shiny silver steed is located in downtown Wichita.

Pidgeon

This pidgeon was roosting on a wooden board under the roof of a covered bridge. It almost went unnoticed - but I happened to look up. Most people look over the sides of the bridge at the water below, as ducks and fish are swimming around.

There is a food dispenser mounted on the bridge, and for a quarter (or two) you can buy a handful of "fish food" to toss to the fish below. Often times as children open the door of the food dispenser - some of the pellets fall on the floor. If pidgeons can eat the small pellets, then this bird has found a safe and shady spot near a "cafeteria".

Grasshopper

This grasshopper lives at the Zoo, too, uncaged, free to hop around all over the place.

Shhhhhh...

I wanted to post this sign yesterday, to go with the Grizzly Bears, but saw yesterday was a first day of the month Theme Day. So, now continuing on am posting this grizzly warning sign. I've rarely had trouble sleeping, when woke up, I can usually go right back to sleep. But, some aren't so lucky and if they get woke up - they wake up grouchy and growl.

Zoo Blvd

Sept 1st DPB Theme Day - Street Sign
This is what most of Wichita's residential street signs look like. I thought this one would go nicely with the Zoo photos, as it is Zoo Blvd. The Sedgwick County Zoo was began in 1963 (planning stages), so this stretch of city street was given this special name sometime after that.

Grizzly #2

This is the other Grizzly Bear. The pool in yesterday's photo is at the base of a rock wall formation, which has rocky steps to reach the top. This is the other bear in the exhibit and was seen walking along the top edge of the wall. Both photo's of the bears were taken through thick glass, hard to tell - they turned out as if there was nothing between me and the bears.

Grizzly Bear

This Grizzly found a way to keep cool, on a HOT summer day. It was fun to watch as the bear paced back and forth along the water's edge (just getting his feet wet). I figured when he was ready he would simply walk down into the pool. All of a sudden, he lept into the air above the water - (picture Superman in flight) and as quickly as he entered the air, he splashed down "belly buster" style. It was quite entertaining to see the bear in mid air with arms and legs outstretched. I don't know about the other hot and sweaty spectators, but I couldn't help imagining how nice it would be to dive in with him. He looked so friendly, just like a big ol' teddy bear. There are two Grizzly's in this exhibit, I'll show you the other one tomorrow. They have a very nice "Bear home" at the Sedgwick County Zoo. It closely resembles a natural habitat.

Gorilla

This gorilla was interesting to watch as he strolled past the viewing area. He would take a few steps, and then pause (or pose). It was as if, he has learned that if he stops and holds still, he'll see flashes of light from cameras. He did this three or four times. He even turned his head towards the viewing area. What a ham he was, I couldn't help but like him. They have a very nice outdoor area to run, climb, tumble and play - and a nice air conditioned building to come into when the weather is bad, for feeding, and at bedtime.

Humboldt Penguin

Wichita is home to the Nationally renowned Sedgwick County Zoo. It's the 18th largest in the US and is Kansas's most popular tourist attraction. This year a Penguin exhibit was opened. Here's a picture of one that swam right up to the glass, observing me, as I was observing him. Humboldt Penguins come from South America's rocky coastal waters of Chile and Peru. They are named after the Humboldt current that runs up the west coast of South America from Antarctica. I hope they do well in their new Kansas home.

Dragging Douglas

When turning around from yesterday's photo, this is the view looking towards the west. This stretch of city street through downtown Wichita used to be popular among the young crowd of "new" drivers. That was before the internet. High school students would cruise up and down Douglas Avenue, and the term for this activity was "drag Douglas". They would congregate, driving back and forth, showing off their first cars, and meeting other people around their age. It wasn't uncommon on a Friday or Saturday night to be asked "wanna go drag Douglas", or "let's go drag Douglas". I don't think it goes on much these days, but am not sure. Guess I'll have to venture downtown on a Friday or Saturday evening and see if young drivers are still bumper-to-bumper; honking, waving, hollering out of car windows, flirting, and revving engines. Does your city have (or did it use to have) this kind of driving activity in it's past?