Zoo Pals

This year was my first year to purchase a Zoo Membership to our local zoo.  I've always been a little hesitant to make an investment in a yearly membership but this year I splurged.  I'm so glad I did too.  We went last Friday (our 4th trip since April), which was unseasonably cool for the first day of June.  I knew it would be packed but it wasn't bad at all.  We didn't have to wait in line, which was a life saver with Jack and Regan.  It was just the four of us since Ethan was at my Mom's house for the week.  We only stayed for a couple of hours but had so much fun.  Before when I would plan a zoo trip it would be a big event and I would try and squeeze as many things in as possible to "get our money's worth for the day."  Everyone would be exhausted when we were done.  Without that stress I was able to just let the kids lead me to what they wanted to see and leave when it was the right time to leave.  No one felt they had missed something because we would just see it the next time and no one got so tired that they had a meltdown.  I also let them pick one extra thing per trip and this time it was cotton candy, pink cotton candy to be exact.  This way we avoid the "I want's" and the whining.  I'm cooler than Dale now.

I doubt I'll get a membership every year but so far it's been a blast.  Here's some pics of our last visit.

Ellie's face makes me laugh in this one!  Ahhh!

Hello big fish!

Finally!  Up close and personal with the Jaguar.  My favorite!

We love the chimps. 

Jack thought the rain in the Rain Forest was so neat.

Goal for the year: Get a shot with all four kids as monkeys.
It's worth a try.

  

Family Zoo Trip

We took our first zoo trip with the six of us a week or so ago. The kids were good of course and Dale was amazed I had taken all 4 kids by myself earlier in the summer. It really wasn't that bad, but don't tell him that. The new giraffe exhibit was open and a big hit with Regan. Although I have to say the tortoise enclosure was my favorite this time. They were too funny and we all enjoyed watching them move around and had fun making slow jokes. The kids always love riding the train and we found out that Jack really doesn't care for anything unless its moving.

My least favorite part is always the birds. I feel sorry for them that they don't get to fly. Oh and the snakes that they don't get to slither around and eat things and cause trouble. We did get to see a bunch of bats in the rain forest exhibit that had "escaped." The jaguar was also out and the beavers were swimming around too. When I took the kids by myself we got to see the elephants get their bath and the prairie dogs poke their heads out and scurry about. The cool thing about the zoo is that each time we go we see something new and different than we did the last time.