Three, ZOO, One - DC, here we come!

After getting poured on at "Day Out with Thomas," we weren't sure what to expect for Saturday. We had planned on going to DC with friends to see the zoo and tour some museums. The weather report said 70% chance of showers, BUT I had prayed. The boys had prayed. We believed God can change weather. After praying about it, I read James 5:17 "Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years." So, I was encouraged that God had answered our prayers!

We emailed our friends and asked if they still wanted to come based on current weather forecast, and they decided to try for another time. But, with Shawn's upcoming surgery scheduled, we knew that this was our one shot for the year. So, we packed our bags extraordinarily late on Friday night, after we had finished all our other plans and got the boys to bed. By the time we were done, the forecast had changed to only a 30% chance of showers and later in the day!

I got less than four hours of sleep the night before between feeding my little Schnookie, packing and waking up early enough to shower and finish everything we needed to get done. But, I was excited to take the boys on a little family vacation! I dressed my younger two in "Redskins" attire since it's Daddy's favorite football team and we were heading to Washington. We got all sorts of stares and comments from people saying that they loved the outfits, especially on baby Ryan. One woman said 'I want to take him home to my husband! He loves his Skins!'

We loaded up our suitcase (I was fairly impressed at getting enough items for five people into one small suitcase), a packed lunch and our diaper bag and headed to the zoo. We arrived right around opening time and found parking right away. Admission to the zoo is free, but parking is $15 each time you come and go, so you want to plan your day accordingly. The first thing we saw was the elephants, which were really neat. They no longer have elephants at the Philly zoo, so this was a "must see" on my list! We saw the one playing with a toy, which was neat to watch.

The boys were excited to see the "jungle" (as they called it) - it was a pretty cool atmosphere as you walked to see all the animals! We pushed Ryan in his car seat/stroller combo - I love this thing and wonder how I managed with my other boys! But, I wish we would have packed the sit 'n stand that I had been planning on but forgot. The older boys were tired until the end of the day, especially Caleb, so a place for him to sit would have been ideal.

Ryan's pacifier in the above picture says 'STUD MUFFIN' and was a gift from Aunt Erica. :)

I snapped a few pictures of the animals as we walked, but for the most part, we needed both of us to keep track of all three boys. I did notice a sign that said that cheetah's can go 29 yards (or was it feet?) in a single stride. I thought to myself "that's the same God who created that cheetah also created me" (and I'm obviously no where close to that with my running!). Haaa!!!

I have to give it to my husband, who said he wanted to take this trip even with his current ankle/foot pain. He's a trooper! And the boys love him! Me too!

We walked around most of the zoo. We didn't hit every single area, but we got to see at least half of the animals, I'd guess. We saw panda bears, and Joshua said "That's not a real bear, is it?" He thought it was a toy until it moved!

While I tried to feed Ryan (unsuccessfully), Daddy took the boys into a reptile house. He said Joshua especially LOVED it! He loves turtles and alligators and all sorts of creatures!

As we were walking, we saw this "dinosaur" and had to get a picture of it! They loved its teeth!

My favorite of the day was this amazing lion. All the females were around him, but he looked exactly like what I picture a lion to be - the Lion of the Tribe of Judah came to mind!

As we were walking, we heard a tiger roaring, which was also really unique!

Joshua put his hand up to see which hand was bigger - his or the tiger's! You can see which won!

We stopped for drinks...

We stopped to look at our map (thank you so much for lending it to us, Aunt Gayle & Uncle Brian!)...

And we stopped to see all the neat-o animals, like this chimpanzee climbing across a walkway on ropes.

Eventually, the boys were TIRED. Caleb could barely walk anymore, so Shawn carried him. We went back to the car and ate our picnic lunch and called to see if we could check in a little early. They said yes, so we headed to our hotel. Shawn did some research online and found a fantastic hotel that was clean, relatively affordable, had free parking (which is HUGE in DC!), and had an amazing free breakfast in the morning. When we got to the hotel, Joshua said "Hey, this is one of Papaw's houses!" He's used to seeing his grandparents at various hotels when they come up from Florida. Haaa!!!

Joshua & Caleb slept in one bed, we slept in the other (and realized that we're not used to double beds anymore!) and Ryan slept relatively well in the crib. We did NOT like the overstuffed pillows - Shawn eventually opted to throw his on the ground and sleep with nothing. But, it was a nice place nonetheless. After everyone had napped, we went and grabbed dinner at Red Robin. It was close to our hotel and kid-friendly. We didn't get out until 6 pm on a Saturday night and knew most places would be packed. We wanted something quick, convenient and good for the kiddos. It was perfect with no lines and lots of other loud families. That night, we went exploring in our minivan, looking at all the cool buildings and seeing what we could see along the way. When we got back to our room, Finding Nemo was on TV, which was perfect for the kids to relax to. We all got on PJs and had a family movie night. Thus ended our Saturday in DC.