What a Zoo!

During spring break last month, I decided to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and take the kids to the zoo for the first time this year. I thought with it being spring break that most people wouldn't be there, since Chicago schools and several suburban ones had spring break the week before. Boy, was I wrong!

I have never, ever seen so many people at the zoo before. It took us 40 minutes to get off at the exit into the parking lot of the zoo. And that was only 2 miles. We left the house at 9:15 and didn't get out of the car until 11:20. The kids were troopers in the car. And then entering the zoo was a mess as well, as there was a huge line; even though we had membership passes, we still had to wait in line.

Cheesing it up.

The kids were great for the entire time we were there. We didn't stay long, because everyone was at the zoo and it was difficult to see everything. We didn't even make it to the kids' zoo. But I told the kids that we would definitely be back several times this year, especially since the big bear exhibit is opening in a few weeks and the dolphins are returning this summer.

The giraffe pics for Uncle D.

The giraffes were able to head outside the next week.

While we were walking around the zoo, Papa called and asked if we wanted to stop by his house after the zoo. That made the kids beyond excited, so we made our way to the front of the zoo, so the kids could enjoy their carousel ride. That was a bit of an issue: because there were so many people there, I had to make sure the kids were seated near each other so I could keep an eye on them. Riley ended up on an animal that wasn't going up and down, so I said there was one next to me that she could ride. Some grandma next to me said they were going to use it, so Riley went back to her immobile animal. Turns out that the grandma and her group didn't use the animal that was going up and down. Hence Riley's face in the following picture:

I wonder if this is how Riley will spend
a majority of her teenage years.For the record, Jeremy gave Riley a hug after the carousel ride
and said he was sorry other people weren't nice.

But Jeremy had fun on his. I promised Riley that next time she'd get an animal that moved. Overall, we had a nice time and were able to enjoy the record temps (it was 84 degrees on April 1!). I'm feeling more confident going to the zoo with just the two of them. They kept remembering aspects about the zoo that reminded them of Uncle D: how he met us on the grass outside the zoo and was lying down, how he'd sit on the lion outside the zoo to take pictures, how he'd take them through the elephant sprayer. So Uncle D: you better make sure you can make the annual zoo trip with us in August!

After the zoo, we headed over to Papa's and spent some time with him since Nana had left for Lebanon to see C + D. We decided to go out for dinner on our way home; it was a wonderful, if not chaotic day.