Sunday funday

A year ago we got a great "deal" in the mail for the Cincinnati zoo. I don't even remember what the cost for a family membership was but I remember talking Steve into it by saying, we'd only have to go 3 times to get our money back. Well, it expires on Thursday and we went yesterday for our SECOND time. Oops.
It was a fabulous day around here, so we weren't the only ones thinking the zoo would be the perfect outdoor family solution. The parking alone took 20 minutes. And waiting in inefficient lines doesn't bring out the best in me! I might have called several carloads of other Ohioans idiots and questioned their driving skills a time or two. Lovely start to a family outing! But I'll tell 'ya what, the gorillas were worth the price of admission (a season family pass at that!) They were in rare form yesterday and we had a blast watching them.

We brought the radio flyer with us and while I'm convinced it was much more enjoyable than the double stroller, Steve' back was not so sure!

Another super duper fun thrill yesterday was feeding the giraffes. I've never been that close to one and for only $2 both of my kids got to give the giraffes a cracker (much like the cracker they would find on the safari in Africa.) STILL better than the marshmallows and licorice we used to take for the bears and monkeys at the Toledo zoo back in the late '70's. (Hopefully PETA isn't monitoring my blog.)

By the way, Olivia has become so brave these days. Not only did the giraffe lick her while she fed it, she didn't even cry about it. She did, however, cry like a banshee when Turner poked her big toe with his finger while riding in the wagon. Go figure!

Naturally, we had to stop for a substantial portion of the visit at the play area. This is where I was thankful that it was an 80 degree humidity free day. The stone statues were cool enough to actually sit on without blistering my children's' skin and I wasn't melting in a puddle as there was no shade.

Here is my brave daughter, once again, nearing wildlife. Snuggling the goat that had just pooped the biggest pile of pellets nearly gagged me... but I'm no spoil sport. We did, however, wait in line for about 5 minutes to wash hands from the one spicket that was working. (Much in the same fashion as the parking procedures, Cincinnati zoo was a bit challenged in the traffic funneling department yesterday.)

After eating lunch from the Skyline Chili stand (shoot, if I had gone to the zoo my 3 times to make the money back I would have known the routine and packed our lunch rather than second mortgaging our home to buy hot dogs and chips) we hopped in the car where Turner literally fell asleep INSTANTLY. Here he is awake...

TWO seconds later (faster than I could snap this shot)... asleep. So cute. The heat and the animals can really take it out of a boy. But not a girl... don't worry, the brave Chiquita ran her mouth all the way home. All in all a great day a the zoo.