This year I took Mingmei along with me. She posed with this creature guarding the entrance to the zoo, which traditionally is said to protect Chinese buildings. It's called a fu dog, among many other names. I also took a picture of the entrance by night.
Mingmei and I took turns in an oversized Adirondack chair.
Mingmei liked this lantern, because she looked like another doll.
She also wanted to pose with a blue flower, and a row of stars, suns and moons.
The large display in the lagoon this year was a dragon boat.
Of course, we saw some animals. Here is a snow leopard, a swan family, and elephants. My camera has a fantastic night setting.
We also saw some wolves this year! The wolf enclosure is attached to a log cabin, which holds a fish tank, some places to sit, and some information about the 1925 Nome Serum Run, featuring lead dogs Togo and Balto. Balto and his team have a Cleveland Zoo connection. The back of the log cabin faces the wolf enclosure, which has large clear windows. As we were there around dusk, the wolves were apparently coming out to move around. These are Mexican wolves, so they don't look as enormous as wolves from further north.
Once again there were several displays with light and movement. This group of butterflies and vines was part of an open tunnel.
Lastly, here's a picture of the vast difference between lantern displays by day, and by night. Of course, these umbrellas are also colored differently by night.
Mr. BTEG and I enjoyed it, although we will never go on a weekend again if we can help it!