A trip to the zoo...

Tuesday we packed up the crew and headed to the zoo with some friends. It turned out to be a gorgeous day. There were a few field trips there but we managed to dodge them for the most part. It's not a huge zoo, but it's just the right size for little kids.

The kids had fun, but I can't say we focused on the exhibits much. They enjoyed the petting zoo and watching the small animals that were up close to the fences. If the animals were far away or harder to spot, they weren't too interested. They loved the monkeys, of course, and there were several opportunities to see animals up close, like the sea lion that they brought out of his cage to perform. He was clapping and giving the trainer high five while the kids watched. 

Hadley thinks she's just "one of the boys" and likes to hang with the big boys. She ran along with them and did a pretty good job of keeping up. She rode in our wagon part of the time, hopped in a friend's wagon or helped push one of the wagons. There was a lot of running around, with 6 kids and three moms each pulling a wagon, it was all we could do to keep our crew straight!

The kids both loved the carousel. The first time Wyatt rode it, he selected the bench seat. By the second time, he had worked up the nerve to actually ride a horse! 

We got to see Lucy, the elephant, up close and personal a couple of times. Because she's "old" by elephant terms (she's 35!), they take her on 3-4 walks a day around the zoo to help with her arthritis. The kids thought it was cool that she literally walked right past them a couple of times. The highlight was when she stopped to pee right in the middle of the sidewalk. Imagine someone opening a fire hydrant and you get the effect. The show was met with a collective "eeewwwwww" from the crowd. Pretty funny!

Hadley impressed me by riding the pony all by herself, with a trainer walking along beside of course. She was quite excited to do it and hopped right on. Wyatt wanted to watch Hadley first while he thought about it. When it was his turn, he walked up to the horse and quickly changed his mind saying it was too scary. He came back out of the fence, hemmed and hawed about it while he watched another friend go, then said he was ready again. You could just see the wheels turning as he gave himself a pep talk. He choked the second time as well and I could tell he was disappointed in himself, but he was just too afraid. I reassured him he could ride it next time. He's my cautious one!

After four hours, we decided the crew had reached their limit. It was a full day - we played hard, ate lunch, had a treat, played hard some more and then headed home. Hadley was asleep before we made it out of the parking lot. It was a great summer outing and I'm sure it won't be our last!

The kids are lined up for a race on the hill. On your mark..... wait! Someone is cheating!!