Zoo Day!!!

So today I decided to take the kids to the zoo. We have had a rough few days, and we were all in need of something to do outside that was fun. It ended up to be the perfect day for it! It was slightly overcast and a cool breeze was blowing. This made it perfect because the kids did not get hot, and the sun wasn't burning us to crisps. I was lucky enough to have my friend Joe agree to go with me so that I didn't have to try to wrangle the kids all myself.

When we first got there Sev decided that he wanted to throw pennies in the little fountain outside of the zoo. Then, upon entering, they wanted to play with the huge rock ball that you can spin on water. This effectively got both Sev and Ender wet, but it seemed to make them happy, so that is good.




Our zoo trips tend to be pretty traditional, we follow the same path, and kinda do the same animals in order every time. So, as per usual, we went and saw the monkeys first. I love the monkeys because they always make me think of my children. Especially the little monkeys. They are just so cute and inquisitive, like my babies. They also seem to get in a lot of trouble and fights. Also like my babies. One of the things that we got to see really closely were the baboons. One of the baboons had his butt turned towards us. Severian looked at him, and then said "hey, that monkey is cheeky" I laughed pretty hard.

Ender kept wanting to get out of his stroller, and since there were not a lot of people at the zoo, I kept him unbuckled so that he could get out whenever he wanted to. It was cute cause he kept trying to climb up over the exibits. He also ALWAYS knocked on the glass of the cages and yelled "Hello!" Exept, because he is not quite two, it sounds more like "Heerro?!"

One of the things that was really nice about today was that because it was such a mild day, all the animals were out. We saw the white alligator, and he was right next to the glass. We also saw the bears, and they were just sitting outside having fun. We saw the giraffes and the zebras too. All of which were outside and really active.



The best part of the day, in my opinion, is when we went to the Asian Highlands to see the big cats. We were able to see a lot of the cats up close, but it got really fabulous when we got to the Leopard area. The leopard was looking at something, and so was pacing back and forth right in front of the glass. This went on for about five or six minutes. It was so great because there were not many people there, in fact, there was only one other little girl who was watching. So the kids were playing "hide and go seek" with the Leopard. The leopard would come over to where Severian and this other little girl was, and they would duck down, then look up over the ledge at the big cat. Ender was following the cat by running back and forth while it was pacing. He thought it was one of the neatest things, and he was giggling and clapping. He also kept up a constant stream of "HEERO!" everytime the cat was right in front of him. Then, suddenly, the cat just ran away and went and layed down at the top of his area. It really was so neat that we were able to see that. I thought... :)












After the cats we decided to call it a day. I had been carrying Katalina in her front pack, and my legs and back were killing me. Also, the boys were about ready to pass out. We were only there for two hours, but that is a lot of walking for Sev, and Ender did not nap before we left. On the way out to the car I looked down and noticed that Kat had TOTALLY fallen asleep in her front pack. She was just hanging there like a little doll with rosy cheeks and everything. All in all, it was a great day, and it was so good to get out in the cool air. It is starting to smell like Fall, and this is my favorite time of year. Getting out to the zoo with the kids put me in a much better mood than I have been all week, and I am glad that I was able to do that with them!

Now, thank goodness, they are sleeping, and I might, just MIGHT, get to clean my house a little. Or, I could play on the internetz...we will have to see :)

***also, I apologize for the pictures. My original intention was to have them all in order of the story, but I just cant figure that out, and I have been working on it for an hour. So, you will all have to deal with it!