The DC Zoo

 

On Saturday, October 6, I went to my typical "ATTACK" class in the morning.When I came home, I told Shawn I was a little sad that we hadn't decided to do anything over the weekend. After all, it's not often that the boys both have a day off school the same day I do (Monday, October 8, was Columbus Day). Shawn said, "Hey, we can go somewhere like DC, if you want to." I wasn't sure how serious he was as we had just been lightly chatting about it. And we looked at the weather and while Saturday was supposed to be warm, Sunday was calling for a chilly rain throughout the day. But, after doing a little research online, it looked like we could book a hotel room using free points that was relatively close. Then we became more than just talk. He said, "If you can just throw a couple things in a bag and NOT over pack, I'll go." I agreed.

I got the quickest shower I could, got ready, and literally threw one outfit for each person in our family into an overnight bag, adding in PJs, toothbrushes, etc. Everything we took fit into the boys small overnight bags, so you know I didn't take a lot (meanwhile the next day I ended up spilling my chai all over myself and wished I had another warm outfit along!!!).

It was a long car ride, as the boys would tell you, but eventually we got to our hotel to check in. Joshua, Ryan & I stayed in the car while Shawn grabbed the keys and took Caleb to the potty. When he came out, he told us that the hotel clerk said that there was some event in downtown DC and we might be wiser taking the metro to the zoo. We debated for a bit on what was our best option, knowing we would want some sort of stroller for Ryan. Parking is expensive, but so would public transportation for 5 people. Eventually Shawn made the final decision just to drive (I wasn't so sure!) and it was the right call. Whatever traffic was there (and it was heavy) kept moving, and we got to the zoo. While it was supposed to be warm (I wore shorts and a t-shirt), it was chillier than I would have liked. But, I had the boys in long pants, and they seemed okay other than Joshua commenting once that he should have brought in his sweatshirt. The first thing we saw after getting parked were the elephants.

 The boys were excited to see the flamingos, which reminded us of Florida. We saw so many different animals that I didn't take pictures of along the way. But, it's a nice free zoo to go to with the family.

Ryan is at the age where it's difficult to let him out of the stroller because he wanders, but he doesn't like to be riding all the time. So we try to do a mix, doing mostly stroller so we can keep pace with the other boys.

A favorite of the zoo is always the lions. Joshua told me that lions are his favorite animal. Over and over again he's said it, so I believe that it's true (at least for now).

They are pretty neat to see!

Unfortunately the tigers weren't growling this time round. Our last trip Caleb LOVED to listen to the tigers growling, and he was a little disappointed that they weren't making noise or moving around much this time.

The boys had fun with this dinosaur fossil thing.

Oh no, it's eating Caleb!

We were also disappointed that the orangutangs weren't out walking across the ropes built for them. We didn't see a single one while we were there. Ever since our last trip, when Joshua sees an electric wire between poles, he comments about seeing the orangutangs walking across the wire. It is SO neat to watch, and there were signs for their crossing everywhere, but unfortunately we didn't see any this time.

This time round we went into the one building about the Amazon, allowing Ryan to stretch his legs for a bit since you can't take your strollers in. It reminded the boys of the Aquarium.

They were looking at turtles and fish.

I was looking at a very happy baby Ryan!

 

Then we went to the seals, and Joshua got to see one up close. We had gotten to a majority of the exhibits that day before the boys were too tired to do anymore. We went into the ape house (talk about STINK!!! YUCK!!!) and a few other places before Caleb said he was too tired to even walk. He began to cry, so I carried him most of the way out of the park while Shawn pushed Ryan in the stroller and Joshua walked. It was time to head back to our hotel after grabbing a bite to eat! While we drove to the restaurant, all three boys fell asleep in the minivan.