A Day at the Zoo

The kids and I had a fun day at the zoo with Emily and her kids yesterday! I can't believe it had been 11 months since we had seen each other. Our road trip must have worn the kids out because it's almost 8 AM and two of them are still asleep. Normally it does not matter what time our son goes to bed; he is up at right around 7:20 every morning!

We got to the zoo around 10:30 and Emily and I knew that all the kids would be asking about lunch before too long so we stayed close to the picnic area where we ate last year. We went to the Oceans building first where you can pet sharks. Our girls put their hands in the water this year but weren't able to reach any of the sharks.

Shark watching 

I remembered to bring two quarters and a penny for each of our older two so they could make a souvenir penny. Emily's kids both made one too. :)

We watched the penguins for a while. I like how they swim so close to you. 

There was a stream of bubbles right near where the kids were standing and one penguin stayed directly in front of the kids for the longest time with his face up at the glass. The kids thought it was the funniest thing!

The kids were hungry when we left the Oceans building so I waited with them while Emily ran to her car to get their lunch bag. I thought it would be a perfect time to get a picture of all 5 of them. I had them stand in the shade but obviously it was still bright!

Emily came back and we tried again. We had them stand shortest to tallest and wear their sunglasses. Much better, except Emily's daughter was being poked by the plant behind her. ;)

We walked to this beautiful picnic spot and found, no picnic tables! The area was clean so we just sat on the ground and had a real picnic. Another attempt at a picture of the 5 kids that was not super successful!

After all the throwback pictures yesterday, I wanted to get a recent picture of Emily and I. My 5 year old took this one and other than my hair poof I think it turned out great! ;)

I think she remembered seeing pictures of the boys posing in these trees last year so she climbed up and posed for me. Ha ha!

There was a huge pile of branches in the river and Emily said the last time they were at the zoo there were turtles all over them! The kids had to check it out.

We went in to the butterfly gardens after lunch and a little exploring. I told the kids they had to be really calm, quiet and careful so they didn't hurt or scare the butterflies. (That advice also stemmed from me feeling like I was starting to get a migraine). I told them to be still and hold their arms out so the butterflies might land on them. The boys stood like this and Emily and I could not stop laughing. It was so funny yet sweet! I was really hoping a butterfly would land on them but it didn't happen.

We checked out the amazing orangutan exhibit before we went to the dolphin show. Our 7 year old jumped back from the glass when the orangutan got close! Ha ha! Our 3 year old thought it was neat though.

We went to the dolphin show which the kids all loved, and then went to the Desert. The boys were excited to see all the snakes! I took a funny picture of them sitting in this snake but the lighting wasn't good. :( The one of our 5 year old turned out a little better.

Then little sister had to have her picture taken too of course! 

Hanging out by the giraffes :)  As we were going from the Desert building to the giraffes our 3 year old was walking beside the stroller singing the lyrics to John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.  I'm not sure what made her think of that song, but it was so cute!

We asked what the kids wanted to do next and the girls wanted to see the elephants! I don't think we made it to that area of the zoo last year so it was fun to check out some of the bigger animals that our zoo doesn't have.

I asked Emily to take a picture of the kids and I since I'm not in a lot of the pictures with them on our outings. I was really happy with how this one turned out, especially after being at the zoo nearly 6 hours!

These two got along great all day. Thanks for the cute picture Em! 

I think this quote is so true! I love that even though Emily and I live a little over two hours apart and we might go long periods without seeing each other, it feels like no time has passed when we do. I am so thankful for her friendship! Neosporin, skinned elbows, a box of band-aids for blistered feet, tired legs, not packing enough snacks and all; we had a great day at the zoo!  Love you Em. ♥