Adventures in Remodeling : Zoo Day

While the boys were busy, busy, busy with the bathroom remodeling, Heather and I opted for an escape from the confines of the house. Because, let's face it. You can't have five kids in a house and not expect to have the inevitable boredom. The newness of having non-stop cousin exposure wore off rather quickly and so it was time to find an out for the never-ending supply of toddler energy. So next stop: Zoo. Alex and Abby got to ride their first carousel. And you are also seeing the rare sighting of me, Mama Monkey. Heather got a hold of my camera. It's nice to be documented in photos from time to time.

Lauren, Linsey, and Kate have racked up quite a few frequent flier miles (so to speak) at the zoo. Heather, being the super-mom she is, takes them almost weekly when the nicer weather hits. So they know their way around better than most. They led us around like little pros. The problem was that they are so used to the zoo that the animals serve no purpose other than boring background decorations that get in the way of the play zones. (This zoo just happens to be packed with playground equipment.) Unfortunately, my kiddos were eager to see the typical lions, tigers and bears. (and elephants, kangaroos, and giraffes, etc.) So it almost became more of a fight to persuade them to show us the animals. In the end, we didn't really get to see too many living creatures. Oh...except other kids. Naturally, it is nearing the end of school. And what do schools do with children during their last week of class? Well they take them on field trips of course! And what is the most popular field trip? Zoos. We just happen to go on a day where the parking lot was brim full of school buses. Can we say 'mad house'? I found myself consistently hunting the crowd for Alex as he bounced happily around the zoo with the other kids. I found that my brain was almost entirely incapable of functioning on that level of insanity. I was almost glad to see the first of the many yawns that began to take over our five kids. It was nap time at last and we hauled all five kids back out to the van, piled them in their car seats, and went merrily on our way. Oh, don't get me wrong. The kids had fun and it was an awesome way to temporarily drain them of their energy. But it was good to be out of the crowd. We got back to an almost installed bathtub and walls in the bathroom. It was a fun trip, but remind to avoid field trip day like the plague. My brain lacks the specific mechanism needed to handle that level of insanity.

Here are the rest of the zoo pics worth sharing. This is on the train.

More train fun. The only one missing is Linsey. She rode with Heather. And what's that? Me again?? It is a rare day.

Notice how I have no photos of actual animals? The only picture I got of an animal was of a lazy seal that was so exhausted from his previous show, that all he did was float about a foot beneath the water. Funny stuff.

Stay tuned for tomorrow when we explore: The Farmstead