This Place Is A Zoo

For awhile now, Eric and I have been talking about the fact that we needed to go back to the zoo to make use of our memberships before it runs out. Technically, I guess it wouldn't have mattered if we got back this summer or not as we had it paid for by going as much as we did last summer.

We never got there during the fall, winter or spring so I kept feeling like we needed to go back. I guess I kind of wanted to go back as well to see if anything had changed. I had thought about going this past weekend, but didn't mention anything to Eric as I decided I had other things I should do.

However, on Saturday morning I got a call from Eric. He had left to go get his car renewed and on his way home he heard a radio ad about Lego 'sculptures' being at the zoo. He asked if it was something I might like to do and I just kind of laughed and told him I had thought about it, but then didn't bring it up. So we decided we'd go.

Lego's are a big thing in this family. 4 of the 5 kids are obsessed with Lego's and Eric still has a love for them, though he doesn't really build with them anymore. As for me, I was just glad to get out of the house and glad to have something for the kids to do.

Being a Saturday, I figured the zoo would be crowded, but I never imagined it would be as crowded as it was. It was a mad house. Thankfully, Eric and I weren't in any sort of hurry so we just took our time and enjoyed being out together as a family.

Our first stop (just because we entered from the back side of the zoo and those animals are located there) was the wolves. We were just about to walk pass, but then we saw them both come up from the lower part of their enclosure and we got a couple pictures.

When the one wolf laid down, Ailey said, "That one died." We had to let her know he wasn't dead, he was just taking a nap. Silly little girl.

Next up was the tigers. A tiger is Shaylyn's favorite animal, so we had to make sure we didn't skip out on those animals.

We then made our way over to the giraffes for Ailey. On the way to the zoo Ailey was telling me that they had a pink giraffe that she wanted to see. I don't know if she ever saw it, but I never saw a pink giraffe. That didn't seem to upset her in the least though.

...Not the best picture, but I wanted a shot of the 'baby'...

Then it was off to the new Polar Bear area. After seeing the animals we decided it was time for the lunch. Everyone was getting a bit cranky. So while Eric went to stand in the forever long line, the kids and I found a couple tables and waited. Some more patiently than others.

I then found out how much my husband really loves me. While I ran to the bathroom, he took the chance to take this picture of the kids for me. I was kind of floored that he thought to take a picture and actually did so for me. Love that man.

After visiting with the rhinos for Lex and the elephants for Ailey, we found our way to the Big Monkey area. Here they had some 'stick your head in the hole' type picture things to go along with all the Lego sculptures. I was quite surprised that all the kids did both the Orangutan AND Gorilla happily and without major encouragement.

...She carried this map around all day, like a big person. Then was upset when it tore in 2...

We then found our way to the Spider-Monkey's for Tanis. Sadly, most of that exhibit is destroyed as they're doing some new construction around it, but Tanis saw his monkeys and he was happy. I kind of missed them. Don't know why.

My body then decided it had had enough and we had to rest before walking around to the back again to get to the car. Ailey was getting tired as well and we knew it was time to head home.

Here's a quick look at all the fun Lego sculptures. I think we missed one, but we sent the older kids and they found it. For your information, I think the sculptures are there until September. So if any of you want to head to the zoo before the end of next month, let us know. We'd probably gladly go again.

The funniest part of this outing though was the sheer number of pregnant ladies we saw. I don't know if we happened to notice more because I'm pregnant or just because the sheer number of pregnant ladies that were there was astounding. Either way, it got to a point where Eric or I would just say to the other, "There's another one." We'd then just crack up. Sometimes all we had to do was laugh and we knew exactly why the other was laughing. In any case it prompted Eric to make this post on Facebook with his phone.

I just had to laugh when I saw it. The fact that the phone autocorrected to 'wide' just made the whole situation that much funnier. I can also assure you that there were many 'wides' there wider than me and expecting their babies a bit sooner than we are.