The Zoo

Today we took a trip to the zoo! Now that Joli is getting a little older, I'm hoping to make our outings more of a challenging learning experience. When she was younger the zoo was all about looking at the animals, naming them, talking about what they were doing, etc. But now she knows most of those things. So when we went into the zoo we bought a notebook and a pencil from the gift shop. Then we stopped at any animal that Joli found interesting, where she would draw a picture of that animal, write the name of the animal, and then she and I would discuss and write down one fact about them. She did such a great job!!! Charlotte was very interested in what Joli was doing.
The girls had on matching shirts and so did Kacie!

Joli's drawings are so adorable!

We were so excited to see a zebra! We didn't even know they had zebra's!

Markus is finally old enough to notice the animals and boy is he mesmerized by them!

Teething seems to be taking it's toll on the stroller (and my steering wheel, and the furniture, and my shoulder...).

We stopped to check out my favorite animals, the meerkats!

This little guy was so cute on the top of his mound! Joli's picture of the meerkats included the mound.

Then we got to the rattlesnakes. Just to warn you, the next few pictures are super creepy, as Joli loves snakes and is not afraid of them at all!

Now Markus on the other hand had an appropriate reaction when I set him on the ground next to the glass. He totally flipped out and started crawling away! At least I don't have to worry about one kid getting bit by a snake! After the snakes we went over to one of the restaurants to use my coupon for an ice cream cone. Mmmmmmm!

Markus thought it was pretty yummy too.

Before we got to the zoo Joli and I discussed which animals she wanted to write about the most. She said the jaguar and the lions (which are on the opposite side of the park). We finally made it there and she set to work.

Joli was also very excited about the elephant sculptures.

The last thing Joli wanted to do was go to the playground, which is next to the entrance. So instead of taking another hour to wait for her to walk to that side of the park, I put her on my back and got a little work out out of it.

When we got to the playground Markus woke up from his nap and was excited to get out of the stroller. Most of the pictures I got after that were of Markus because Joli was running and playing and I could never catch a shot of her!

Markus loves to yell about anything and everything!

He's also a huge flirt and age does not seem to be a factor in who he flirts with.

Finally is was time to head home, but not before stopping on the bridge to check the baby ducks!

Aren't they so cute!?!?!

Joli wasn't quite done seeing animals and since we were walking by the komodo dragon exhibit, we stopped just one last time. Markus thought it was pretty cool.

I wonderful, successful outing!