Riverbanks Zoo Trip

On Tuesday, the boys and I went with my mom to the zoo. We haven't been since school started, so I've been really looking forward to it. I saw that I had election day off of school probably two months ago and immediately thought it'd be a good day to take the boys to the zoo. I think I texted my mom as soon as I realized and we set aside that day to go to the zoo. I actually didn't tell the boys until they were taking their bath Monday night. Anybody with small kids probably understands, if anything comes up, it's really hard to explain that to 4 year olds. Also, I've learned the hard way that they will ask about it non stop until it happens, so I just wait until the last possible minute and then tell them. ;)

We have our zoo trips down to a routine, we leave around 8:00 and get there when they open. We always start with a ride on the carousel.

Then, we always go to the bird sanctuary and feed the birds. It always gets so busy, so we like to do that as soon as we get there. This time, the birds were so crazy. We went in and were immediately covered in birds. I'm thinking maybe they don't get fed as much since it's not busy season at the zoo, but they were crazy, I had them on my head, back, and here's four just on my arm. I was going to let the boys hold the food, but the birds were being really aggressive, so my mom and I held the food.

This is Evan holding out his arm and telling birds they could land on it.

It was so easy to transfer a bird to the boys, we just held their hand and the birds would make their way over. The boys loved it!

I love that I got a picture of Carter laughing as the bird came over, he was so tickled by the whole thing.

I love getting to things when they first open, just because it's less crowded, less lines, etc. Another plus with getting to the zoo when they first open is that we get to see all the animals being active. When we leave, which is always about 12ish, a lot of the animals are already sleeping.

Looking at the flamingos.

They have a walk-about for the kangaroos where you go in and walk around on a path and get to see them up close. I think it's really neat. Evan kept telling one of them to jump, but it didn't happen.

 The boys always seem to spend more time at the Meerkats than at any other animal, but this trip we spent even more time than usual. The boys decided to have a snack and were just happy to munch away and watch the Meerkats. I actually had to tell Evan that we were going to look at other animals, which I never have to do, he is always the first to be ready to move on.

Feeding the giraffes. This is my absolute favorite thing to do. I love it. I love how excited the boys get about the giraffes, I love that they're not scared and it's just really fun.

Carter was feeding one with my mom, so I didn't get any pictures of him feeding the giraffe.

I tried to get one of Evan and Carter with the giraffes in the background. That didn't go so well.

We did the pony rides next. Evan loves the pony rides!

We went by and fed the goats.

We always bring a picnic lunch to the zoo because they have this huge picnic area with big tables right outside the zoo. So, we went and had lunch and then we come in and let the boys ride the carousel one last time.

I don't know what makes the carousel so exciting for them, but they could ride it all day.

 

I always enjoy our trips to the zoo, probably as much as the boys. The weather was perfect and it's such an easy drive up to Columbia.

After Greg got home, we went up to vote. There was no line and they had a big table with crayons and puzzles for kids, so the boys were thrilled. The last time we voted (in Virginia) we waiting over an hour--with the boys--and there was nowhere for them to sit and so this was really nice. The lady working there let the boys take their pictures home and they got voter stickers, so they were just so excited. While we were eating dinner, I asked the boys if they had told Greg what we had done that day (talking about the zoo) and all they could talk about was voting and how much they loved it. Haha. finally, Greg said 'well, did you see any animals today" and Evan said "oh yeah, we went to the zoo too!"

The boys had such a great day and Carter had been completely fine, but after voting and dinner out, he ended up throwing up in the car on the way home. I thought it was a fluke and that he was fine, not a stomach bug. I even told Greg that I thought he'd be fine to go to school the next day, that I didn't think he was sick, maybe he just had to much to eat or drink. He said in the car he felt better after throwing up and was completely back to normal during bath. Well, so much for mother's intuition because after we put him to bed, he woke up and threw up pretty much for 5-6 hours. It was a long night. Then, he had a fever the next day and was miserable and I ended up taking him to the doctor. (it was just a virus) It was such a sad way to end what had been such a fun day, but he's feeling better now and it doesn't seem like anybody else has caught the stomach bug from him, so hopefully nobody comes down with it this weekend and we can all stay healthy this winter.