Zoo Fun!

Well, I said that we were going to go to the zoo on our first day of summer, and we did!  It was a beautiful day.  I actually broke away from Ryder's sleep schedule to do this, and we all know that is a big step for me.  As I said before, he is still taking 2 good naps a day.  He is a great sleeper.  But I only let him sleep for about 45 minutes this morning so that we could get out the door and to the zoo by 9:30.

He did ok getting woken up early.  We loaded up the car and got all the kids strapped in.  I always forget how long it takes us just to get out the door.

We got there and found parking.  Morning must be a good time to come!

The rare picture of me with the boys!

Parker has not been feeling so good.  He has a pretty bad cold, so he wasn't in the best mood, so he just kind of relaxed in the stroller.  Every time Jimmy tried to take him out of it to show him an animal, he started to cry.  So we just let  him hang in there.

It was a good day.  We had Parker and Ryder in the stroller and Brady walked the whole way for the first time.  We thought it was a good idea, maybe it would tire him out.  But what it did was significantly slow us down.  Because he not only wanted to look at every display, but he also wanted to pick up EVERY rock and EVERY stick and EVERY leaf that was in the path.  And folks, we are at a zoo...there are lots of rocks, sticks and leaves!  Here are just a few...

But besides the rocks and sticks, Brady was actually interested in seeing the animals this time.  I think this is one of the first times he has wanted to look at them and ask about them.  It is so fun seeing the zoo through a child's eyes!

About halfway through the morning we stopped at the grass concert field.  That is always a good spot because they can run and have some space.  However, for the first time, Brady took off and would not come back.  I kept telling him to come back and he just looked back at me and ran farther.  I was now that mom.  By the time I caught up with him he was at the stage about to go up the stairs.  So we had to have a little talk.  Ryder loved crawling in the grass.  He tried walking but it is uneven ground and it was tough.  Did I mention the grass was very wet and muddy in a few spots?  Good thing I brought a change of clothes for him!

Parker getting a snack break.

This is Ryder's contemplative look.

We continued through the maze of walkways and animals.  We stopped for the lions which are one of our favorites!  And of course we stopped at the drums of Africa, because I think that is Brady's favorite.

Still Parker preferred watching from the stroller...

Ryder (who's morning nap got cut very short) was very mellow, practically falling asleep.  But it was good for him to get out. As sad as it is, we have rarely taken him out.  It is just tough to get all 3 boys out. Brady gets out because he goes to daycare twice a week and I can take him on errands.  Parker gets out, well, because he has so many appointments!  But my little man Ryder gets neglected with outings.  (Mostly because he still sleeps so much.)

We got done with our usual loop, but had to do our obligatory "end of the zoo trip" pictures with the big bear.  Brady (whose nickname is Brady Bear) loves this big thing.

Parker thought he was pretty cool too.  He is really starting to look at things with more interest now.  It is so amazing!  I tried to capture it in these photos.

Parker is showing this bear how to growl and roar!

He is really checking out the bear here.

Ryder was so tired, he didn't actually care about the bear...

And so our zoo trip and first day of summer is done...