Finally...a Day at the Zoo!!!

Yesterday was a gorgeous day outside- I was not going to waste it indoors, so we headed to the zoo! The kids were very excited to go- Annabel had been begging for me to take her for ages- we needed this trip! It was a perfect day. Cool in the morning, but nice enough eventually that hats and mittens were not required and we didn't need boots- ah, good ol' sneakers! That felt good in itself! We had the most fun just walking here and there, following the kids' leads, seeing whatever struck our fancy, playing here and there, and we even ate outside! Fresh air cannot be beat! And even though everybody else in the world had the same idea (it was like the flood gates opened!) and it was really crowded, we had a great time.

The kids loved looking at their maps. They had a lot of fun in the play zoo building as always. We saw the crocodiles in the swamp building, the tiny baby gorilla in the monkey building, the penguins of course, ate lunch outside, played on the playground for a few minutes, saw the giraffes (indoors! Annabel was bummed all winter long that we couldn't see them- I had no idea you could even go in this building- I'd never been in there before! Duh!), rode the merry-go-round (Daniel just wanted to sit- he looked so cute sitting there on his own, Annabel rode the penguin- she was so excited and sat there so proudly- actually, she wanted me to leave but I told her rules were I had to stay- no way was I leaving her side!), watched the lions and tigers sleep and then we headed out. Annabel walked about 80% of the 4 hour visit, Daniel was content to sit in the back of the stroller most of the time. He was interested in going into buildings, while Annabel had very specific animals she wanted to visit. We got a little of everything done. The kids had fun looking back over the maps in the car on the way home, although this prompted lots of "Oh NO! We didn't see this animal!" from Annabel, which was too funny! We'll be back lots of times, I hope, now that Spring is trying, ever so slowly, to come through for us!

Strolling along with her map in hand!

Fun with sand and water bottles in the greenhouse room of the play zoo building!

 Annabel really wanted to play with the "puter" in the director's office room of the play zoo building!

 The vet's office is a must-do, too!

 Daniel in a boat in the swamp building- such a great smile!

Annabel stared at these crocodiles for the longest time and then one finally moved- "They ARE real, Mommy!"

 Daniel got his telescope out of his backpack to watch the monkeys way up high! 

(The kids packed their own backpacks with snacks, animal viewing essentials, stuffed animals, and juice boxes- they were so proud; their bags were pretty heavy, mine had two things in it I think!)

Annabel braved the playground!

Cute giraffes! I totally did not know you could see them indoors!

 We waved to Australia, but were too excited about the merry-go-round to go in!

Merry-go-round fun!

Annabel fell asleep in the car about five minutes from our house, of course it would be that close to home- I really thought both kids would totally be asleep the whole way home, but no. Still, I was able to bring Annabel inside and lay her down to nap some more. I ended up waking her up after an hour since I didn't want her to stay up all night!