The Oregon Zoo

Yesterday my mom and I took the kids to the Oregon Zoo.  We had an awesome visit.  Carly was not so sure about going to the zoo because she was scared of seeing the bears, but once we got there, she was excited.  And lucky for her, the bears were sleeping, so they looked pretty sweet & harmless.  We also got to see the cougars who were sleeping.  Carly said she wanted to give them snuggles. 

All three boys were really helpful with keeping an eye on Carly.  She mostly walked, not wanting to be stuck in the stroller, and they held her hand or corralled her back to us when she got to far ahead.

We loved the elephants, the fish, the giraffes and the seals.  

For snack my mom got us elephant ears.  Carly insisted she DID NOT want an elephant ear and that "Nanny, you're teasing me!"  We explained that they were like donuts and she'd like them.  Sure enough, she loved them, and we all enjoyed them very much!

When Carly got cranky toward the end of the day, Jack volunteered to carry her on his shoulders, and she was ecstatic.  She has the best brothers in town, I'm telling you! 

Wyatt & Logan ran ahead at one point on the trail and scared the pants off Nanny.  They were all laughing so hard!  Little stinkers! Hah!

We did so much walking that by the time we were leaving, the kids were all pretty worn out (and honestly, so were my mom and me!), but Wyatt had the worst of it.  His left foot (the one that was broken back in the fall) was hurting pretty bad so I let him climb into the stroller and I got a serious workout pushing him back to the car!  Eventually we made it!

It was a great day, full of great memories!

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Zoo!

Josh and I took the boys to the zoo the other day, and even though it rained, we had a great time!  The twins loved the bears, Wyatt loved the fish and I loved the elephant ears!  

Zoo Trip with Daddy

 Just before Josh left for Alaska, we went to The Oregon Zoo one last time as a family.

When we saw the black bears exhibit, I noticed some of the trees were wrapped in metal.  (I wish I'd snapped a picture), so I asked Josh what he thought that was all about, and he said (all casual and nonchalant) that it was to keep the bears from climbing out of their enclosure. He was totally right! All the trees near the perimeter were lined with shiny metal to prevent escape. Eek!

We "got" to see the condors eating their lunch. Umm, gross.  That's a dead baby cow.  The kids were completely enthralled.  I lost my appetite. Ha!

It's such a different experience to take these three to the zoo now.  When the twins were toddlers and Wyatt was a baby, it was super hard to navigate the zoo.  Now it's awesome.  They have no desire to run away, so its a far more relaxed atmosphere!

This was the first time I had ever seen the hippos out of the water!  They are massive!

Love giraffes.  Always have.  Always will.

As we were ending our long day (complete with a picnic lunch and elephant ears) the boys got a huge compliment.  

I had been working (all.summer.long) on getting the boys, especially the twins, to say "excuse me" when they got in someone's way.  Which, as you can imagine, happened all.the.time when we were out and about.  At the grocery store, the library, the park... They just didn't seem to get it.  I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall.

Then, miraculously, Logan cut in front of a woman at the zoo and said, "Excuse me" to her!!!  I missed the whole thing, but apparently the woman came up to Josh and said she hadn't seen such well behaved boys in years and that she was so impressed with their manners.  

When he told me, we high fived.  Total parenting win!

What a great way to wrap up the summer for us!

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