Afternoon at the Zoo

Melanie and I were very nervous about trying to take the kids to the zoo in the afternoon. Afternoons are for naps and planning dinner and mommy time. Afternoons are when we hunker down and lay low and pray that the 4-6 witching hour won't really be that bad today. But ever since the girls started school and going to the sitter's, we only have one morning a week for playing (Wednesdays, but that's beside the point) so we're trying to be brave. Mel and Jack had something on this morning but we've been trying to take the kids to the zoo for ages. It's been too hot or we've had something else on or whatever. Wednesdays are half-priced day at the zoo, so we almost always go on Wednesday. Anyway, we ended up having a blast! The kids loved it. They lasted a good two and a half hours before the mommies got tired (about the usual visit for us). We went right after lunch time and left around 3:30. It was great.

I have to say, though, this is the first time that Lana has ever gone to the zoo when she wasn't scared of the animals (since she started noticing the animals). She was scared of the gorillas and monkeys when we first got there. Once Jack started getting all excited and climbing the fence, she forgot all about being scared. She even climbed the fence on the elephant's pen to look at them and told me the "baby" (smallest one) was "sooooooooo cute". Her favorite things though were the penguins, ducks and flamingos.

Calli didn't notice many of the animals but she really liked the flamingos too. She was also fascinated by the white tiger that was pacing right in front of the window on her cage. I loved the baby lion cubs the best. Soooooooooooo adorable. Maybe a month or two old. I can't remember. Too cute. Lana loved them too.

Anyway, here are a few pics from our visit today. (There are tons, sorry!)
















And all the kids sound asleep in the van on the way home. (I love my new mini-van!!)


I know I'm totally behind on entries and I'll have to back date some to get them in the right place from last week and whatnot, but I just had to share our zoo story and how brave Lana was.