Zoo Round 2 (same place, different child)

On May 20, I was able to go with Nile's kindergarten class to the zoo for his school field trip.  Originally this was scheduled for April, but it was 40 degrees and a rain/sleet/snow mix that day.  Not such a good zoo day...Monday was much better!

I was ready to chaperone my "small group" of children, so I was surprised when they said all I had to be responsible for was my own child!  I was even more surprised (and happy) when Nile said he didn't want to go around with any of his classmates, he wanted to go with "just you, Mom."

Like I was going to argue with that!

We had a blast exploring together, even though we had only about an hour of time to do so.  We even found some tiny tamarin monkeys we have never seen before.

On the train.  

Outside the zebra enclosure.

Measuring up against the falcons.  (despite his expression, he made sure we did this)

On a rock. :)

I guess now I just need to take Nate to the zoo and the trilogy will be complete. :)

Spring...Finally! And the zoo!

Novak and I made our first trip to the zoo this year...in fact it was the first spring-like day that we've been able to enjoy this year.  Sad that it's the 17th of May...but better late than never!

We started the morning off at 7:45 playing outside (right after we walked home from taking the older two boys to the bus stop.

Peekaboo!

 After playing outside for a while, we met Becky and Baby Brandt at the zoo for our first trip of the year.  I was so excited to share the zoo with this guy!  He didn't remember the trips we made last year, so it was all fresh and new to him.

Being a huge train fan, he loved the zoo train (but he still didn't like the train whistle).

Definitely loved the train best of all.

Goofball.

I have a feeling we'll be going to the zoo a lot this summer.

Breakfast buddies

Thomas and Salty are joining us for breakfast this morning!

St. Louis Zoo

On Sunday, we got up early and headed to the St. Louis zoo. It was a much cooler day than the day before, but the area had a round of thunderstorms go through the night before, so it was really humid. In the end, it was still pretty hot and sticky!

This zoo is also free - in fact, almost completely free! They did also charge $11 for parking - but many people had parked along the road leading up to the zoo. I didn't mind $11 for parking, considering what we were getting in return. We also had to buy $5 train tickets or we would have had a mutiny on our hands.

Of course, the first thing we had to do was ride the train. This train is excellent - it is a long train, goes through several tunnels, and actually has four stations. For your $5 ticket, you get four "station-to-station" rides - so you can get off at a station and then get back on and ride again. We rode twice, letting the boys ride through a station stop each time.

Here is Nate, watching the train go by shortly after we got off it the first time.

This zoo is amazing - huge, and amazing. We were there two hours (that's about all that the little feet could stand) and we probably didn't see half of it. By far, the highlight had to be the penguins. There was an outdoor penguin exhibit first...

Then we went indoors to a very well-air-conditioned area where the "cold-weather" penguins live. The boys really love penguins, and enjoyed watching them dive and swim.

The other highlight? Seeing the Nile Hippopotamus. Nile was so excited to see an animal that had "his name." The fact that they were huge and right up next to the glass was a bonus too.

Although we don't often buy "souvenir" stuffed animals, we did indulge the boys this time. Nate picked out a rhino, and Nile picked out his own Nile Hippo. They also bought the baby a small stuffed elephant.

You're gonna love it at...

Sometimes it's nice to go back home. For the Fourth of July weekend, we did just that (for me at least). I was impressed by the things I did remember about how to get around Des Moines. I can't remember the last time I was downtown...

We had planned to go back for the I-Cubs game and fireworks on July 4, then stay downtown and hit Adventureland on the way home on Monday, July 5. Slight change of plans - it rained, and rained, and rained on July 4. So...no baseball game for us. The boys swam in the hotel pool and we went out to dinner.

But, we did hit Adventureland! These are a few of the better pictures I took, and I know Tom probably has some even better ones (probably some with me in them too), and some videos, which I may add later.

Of course we hit the teacups first, then the boys had to fly the planes.

Next it was the bumper cars. I don't have pictures of that. Of course, at 6 months pregnant I couldn't ride too many rides anyway. I do miss the roller coasters (not that I'd have been going on one with these two boys anyway!). The bumper cars were a stretch, but Nile needed someone to drive and steer. I just barely fit behind the bar with my belly. Then I spent a good part of the time in the bumper car worried that someone would hit me and it would hurt the baby. Fun times!

The boys enjoyed feeding the fish.

And riding the "kiddie boats."

Tom and Nile, waiting for the train to arrive.

The carousel. Nile was pretty proud of himself for riding the "biggest horse."

Trains and a waterpark, oh my!

What could be better than a train-themed waterpark connected to our hotel? A mostly empty train-themed waterpark attached to our hotel!