Day at the Zoo: Take #2

Do you ever just feel lazy like a monkey? Well if ya can't beat em, join em!

Today was a fabulous day…..beautiful weather….great company….a happy baby….and tons of animal friends. Nanny had proposed a zoo trip earlier in the week and I jumped all over it. I tweaked my work schedule a bit and cleared up Thursday for a day of fun. Hallie and I ramped up our reading about animals to prepare for her second trip to the zoo. You can read about her first trip right here….I guess you could say she is now a little more age appropriate for zoo fun!

We had a quiet morning at home together after Riley left for work….by quiet I mean we did this…..

"I really was hoping you wouldn't see this mom"

Followed by more of this…..

More fun the second time?

After above messes were cleaned up my momma and canines we were packed and ready for our trip. Nanny gave up shotgun and buckled up next to Hallie to provide some entertainment. They started out reading, followed by some screaming and finally 45 minutes later we had a sleeping diva. Nanny hopped up front with me thinking that we would ride in peace the rest of the way. That wouldn’t be Hal’s style, now would it? She rested her eyes for a measly 30 minutes but proved that she didn’t need sleep to be a on her very best behavior. We met up with Aunt Ky for lunch at Olive Garden. I was so looking forward to a good meal out….eating out is a very rare occurrence these days. Mostly due to lack of choices…but also due to restless baby issues too. ;) The smallest member of our party of four had enough spunk to light up the room…she managed to entertain our entire half of the restaurant. How?, you ask. First of all, she was in the absolute best mood….second of all, she was flirting and shooting smiles at everyone who walked by…..thirdly she was eating up all of the sweet comments on her coral colored romper….and lastly she looked like a ravenous beast trying to make a run for Aunt Ky’s cheesecake. She had Nanny and I laughing so hard we were crying….she spotted the raspberry goodness and her eyes popped out of their sockets, her tongue shot out and she managed to get both knees up on the table before I could grab her. I do feed the child, I promise. ;) She made quite a few friends while munching on a breakstick and had to wave bye bye to everyone as we left. Funny girl that Hal was…..and I’ve got to say that was hands down our best eating out experience so far.

The conversation was great....

"So let's talk Dancing with the Stars....can you believe that Chaz Bono?!"

The entertainment was even better.....

"This is the way the Italian wear it, right?"

"Aunt Ky, I hope you don't expect me to share this..."

Would this happiness continue on into our main attraction? YES! Yes, it would! We loaded up our pumpkins and made our way into the zoo. Bring a pumpkin bigger than your head and get in free? We’ve got this covered….

We basically had the park all to ourselves as there were not many zoo-goers today. Note to self: go to zoo from now on on Thursday afternoons. Mentally noted. Where to go first? Well it just so happened that our tour guide (Aunt Ky) took us to a part that we hadn’t visited on Hal’s first trip……

"Hey! How come you cheated me out of this place last time we were here?"

It was a super cute little area with animals that the kiddos could pet and look closely at. We started off getting her feet wet (not literally) by checking out some turtles and koy fish. Hal was ready for the real stuff and headed into the petting zoo area to get her hands on some furry creatures. First up…the bunny.

"I think I read a book about him once before"

"Tell that baby she could probably work on her gentle petting skills"

She gave it a go in the circle with goats but soon found out they wanted nothing to do with her. Rude little creatures….

"I'm a little outnumbered here...can I get some backup just in case they turn on me?"

She made her way to the donkeys which must’ve been saying something very funny because she let out the biggest laugh when she saw them….

"Hey, what's that baby doing laughing at us? At least we have hair..."

Chickens and lambs seemed too innocent for our little explorer ……

Snore

Bore

"Do something exciting or I'm outta here..."

She needed something a little more on the wild side so we washed our hands and headed over for some fun with the monkeys. They swung around and put on a show for us that totally captivated Hallie’s attention……

Just a swingin'

Indecent exposure

"Hey, how'd you learn to swing like that?!"

From the monkeys we made our way into meet the lorikeets…..

Hal, Aunt Ky and Nanny had fun with these friendly birds. Mom, not so much. I was in my paparazzi mode snapping a picture of Hallie trying to feed the birds when all of a sudden I felt something warm dripping down my head. Awesome. Lorikeet pee. After making sure that it was in fact just pee, I was pretty relieved that I didn’t have a pile of poop on my head. Little miss social made a friend who offered to share her nectar with Hal. Hal had other plans and decided she’d rather munch on the cup than sharing it with the birds. Maybe it was payback for them peeing on my head. Thanks girl! It was a very neat exhibit though and I got some pretty pictures of the colorful creatures…..

L.O.V.E.

I found it ironic that we left the hippo habitat only to decide that it was snack time…..

The most entertaining stop and highlight of our day was the monkey exhibit. We pulled the stroller up to find one meditating, mean muggin’ guy across the way who wanted nothing to do with us. So we took off to see his friends a few feet over and they proved to be much more friendly. We watched as an entire family of monkeys made their way down a hill toward us. Aunt Ky spotted a new little baby riding on her daddy’s back followed by the mother, a younger child and one straggling behind…. I called him “grandpa.” They came right up to the glass and put on a show. The grandpa sat to the side just taking everything in with a pensive look on his furry face. The baby plopped down in front of Hallie and munched on some grass while the daddy sprawled out on his back and kicked his feet up on the glass. Oh to be a monkey…..

"Here they come!"

The baby only had one arm...:(

"I probably shouldn't be looking at this!"

We reluctantly left our new friends and headed toward the elephant habitat. We were happy to see that they were out and about today….but they were pretty far away. But we did get to spot the new baby. So cute!!!

"You are talking about me, right?"

No, that new baby over there!

It must’ve been all the energy output after that big ramp we trekked up because Hallie let us know that it was that time again…..

Snack time

"HEY!! Wait up! My legs are short!"

Our last stop was to check out our long-necked friends, the ever-so-stylish striped buddies and the pretty jungle cats….

She had realized by now that today was no regular Thursday with Nanny......

"Mom is there a zoo at home?"

"Can't we just do this every Thursday?"

The most stylish animal around

She tried desperately to get the attention of a cheetah resting peacefully under a rock.....

"Hey dude! Over here!!"

She taunted him by walking back and forth...

Acting like bait?

Wait, what was that? Snack time again???

"I feel famished. Am I the only one starving right now?"

But of course she had to eat her puffs while riding backwards in her stroller to avoid the sunshine. Diva baby.....

"Next can of puffs please!"

Hal was feeling the effects of a day full of fun and was still going on only a thirty minute nap…but she managed to be a good sport and pose for a few more pictures with us….

A day to remember

<3

So in love with this kiddo

And of course you can’t go to the zoo without taking a picture with your face in the zoo sign. Hallie was a natural at it and had us laughing yet again as she immediately popped her head through and posed for me….

Once we said our goodbyes to Aunt Ky and loaded up, Hal was asleep without so much as a whine in less than ten minutes. The zoo had worn us out and a nap was looking pretty good as I took a peak back at the sleeping monkey….

Zoo'd out!

There is such a thing as being "in shape" and being "in zoo shape." Apparently I'm neither of the two because I was and am still exhausted. And I can guarantee you that my little monkey is dreaming of tigers and lions and bears right now. Today is one of those days as a mom that I’ll never forget. My sweet girl had so much fun and I loved seeing the look in her eyes each time she’d spot a new animal friend. She was genuinely intrigued by everything she saw today and I’m certain that Hal loved spending the day with Aunt Ky and Nanny too. But something tells me she left her new best friend behind at the zoo….

"Let me just ask my mom, she might let you come home with us"