A day at the Zoo

Last week we made the trek to the Zoo. Neal & Amanda (Cory's brother & his wife) and their family went with us. The weather was cool, but not too cold and perfect for walking heaven-only-knows -how-many miles. We got there a little before lunch and stayed until the zoo closed. We had two six-year olds, a four-year old, a three-year old, a 2-year old, and an infant, so we sort of felt like we brought the zoo with us, but the kids were amazing. Not a whine, fuss or complaint the whole day. They were troopers and we all had a fun time together. There were just too many neat things to see, but we got to as much as we could and enjoyed every minute we were there. Here are some of the highlights...

Here was Merry Grace looking at the elephants. We took Elise when she was this age and we just happened to be lucky enough to catch the elephants peeing. For months, her only comment when we talked about the zoo was that the elephants peed. :) No such luck this time--just elephants being elephants. Merry Grace still thought they were pretty cool.



The kids enjoyed the "extras" almost as much as the actual animals. This was a gigantic rhinoceros statue that they climbed on for a while. It's back also made for a pretty cool slide.



One of our favorite things was getting to see the polar bear playing with a ball. He would take this 75lb. ball, throw it up against the rocks and let it bounce into the water, then dive in to retrieve it. He did this the entire time we watched and was still doing it when we left. It was pretty cool to watch.


Boys will be boys. The whole zoo to explore and they find a trashcan to play with. They took turns peeking through the holes at one another and then running to switch sides. It really is the simplest things.... Gross!!!



Elise, Emmy and Charles-Allen. They are just as cute as buttons and as sweet as sugar. We stopped to take a rest and get some cotton candy, icees, and popcorn before trekking off again.


Like I said, the extras were just as much fun as the zoo. They spent a little while climbing on this big rock. Uncle Neal was a good sport and let them jump off for him to catch.


These are boys who will actually stop and ask for directions. They spent a good deal of time examining the map and took very seriously their task to find out where we were and where we needed to go.



I don't have too many pictures of Ally. She was just a little too small to really enjoy the experience of the animals, but she was so dang good we hardly heard a peep out of her. Here she and Merry Grace are chillin' in the stroller.



Silly girls!!! They were so sweet the whole day. Neither one would take a turn in either stroller unless there was a spot for both of them. They'd rather walk a little longer than be split up. Most of the time they had their heads together, holding hands or linking arms. They are a matched set and wouldn't have it any other way...unless, maybe, there was a way they could be actual twins. :)



This was us at the beginning of the day. There's also a picture with Amanda & I, so there is proof we were there. But here are the Daddies and their kids. What a great group this is!!!!



I had to post this picture of the "Tarheel Duck" as we called him. The kids thought it was so cool to find a duck who was a Tarheel fan. :)


This goose was not where he was supposed to be, I believe. He came up and over to where we were walking. He followed us a little longer than he might have, had Ian not been feeding him bites of chips. Silly kid!!! It was cool to be that close to a goose, but he sounded quite ferocious. The kids were a little hesitant about what his intentions were. :)



There was a cool playground near the place where we stopped to eat. The mulch was actually chunks of rubber cut to look like mulch. It was so soft and squishy. There were all kinds of cool things for the kids to play on. They were having so much fun we could hardly get them to eat! Here Elise and Charles-Allen were playing on a giant spider web. They were really high.



Cory was chauffeur extraordinaire for the day. He pushed the stroller, carried kids on his shoulder and just generally toted kids around where and when they needed it. sometimes carrying one and pushing a stroller at the same time. It was exhausting enough just walking around, so I don't know how he managed it. He's just an awesome Dad!!

So there you have it...our day at the zoo in a nutshell. We had such a fun time together and are all looking forward to our next adventure!!!