I got my gorilla fix

On Saturday we woke up with pretty much a
blank slate before us (my ideal Saturday! I love possibilities.) It was one of those crisp beautiful late summer mornings that screamed:

"Let's go to the zoo!"

I LOVE the zoo. I could go to the zoo all the time. We are lucky enough to live pretty close to two really great zoos. Last Saturday, we went to the Cincinnati zoo.

There are several things that make this zoo stand out, but at the top of the list is the opportunity to feed the giraffes. My kids, especially Turner, couldn't wait to feed them.



Another thing that I love about this zoo (that I didn't even know until this trip) are the many opportunities to interact with animals up close.

Several times we were strolling along and a zoo keeper would be hanging out with an animal that the kids could get close to and occasionally touch. (They were not allowed to touch the owl... thank goodness.)


But they were allowed to touch this alligator. We could barely pull Turner away from it. The poor gator.

And it really surprised me, but Olivia was right there, touching everything. She used to be shy about such things, but it seems that she is overcoming a lot of her fears. Its really fun to watch.

But I'll tell you one thing, I didn't go anywhere near that snake. thankyouverymuch.

We did, however, make the unfortunate choice to hit the Y on our way to the zoo for a quick work out.

I forgot that the zoo is set on a plot of land with a bunch of rolling hills. Not to mention, our wagon only seats 2. We have 3. Say hello to mama wagon.

Olivia enjoyed the zoo a ton. And she did pretty good hearing no. "No, you can't get your face painted like that girl has." "Why not? Because your mommy is mean, that's why."

"No, you can't ride the train or the merry go round. We're feeding giraffes instead"

"No, you can't have ice cream. It will melt before it even hits your mouth." geez. What a boring mom. I'd say she re-bounded pretty well, though.

You may have been wondering where Quinn is in all of these pictures.

Right here. He may be the least zoo enthusiast in the bunch. Not to mention all that black hair can really make you sweaty. So this is where he could be found most of the time. (Did I say the wagon seated 2? yeah, well...)

And when mommy and daddy got tired of pulling him around, the other kids pitched in.

Hey, it takes a village, what can I say?

All in all, it was a perfect day. We got a little hot. We got a little tired. We got a little sweaty. We got a little cranky.

But the kids did swimmingly!