Zoo Day!

I have been wanting to take Luke to the zoo for awhile. When the other kids were small, we went all the time. We were pass holders in both Norfolk and Memphis. I think we went at least twice a month up until the time we moved to Maryland. It was definitely one of our favorite pastimes. Unfortunately, the closest zoo is not convenient here. The drive home is difficult, with large roundabouts (take the 6th exit) that we always get wrong. Sometimes, we take the metro which relieves the city-driving issue, but not the fact that it is an almost 2-hour one-way evolution. So, we just don't go much.

Yesterday, we decided to bite the bullet and make the trek. Since they were doing construction on the metro, we drove. The drive up was easy, we made it in about 90 minutes. I really wanted to see the newest baby Panda--Bei Bei. This was only his second week on display, so I knew the crowds could be bad. We went there first and were able to walk right in. Bei Bei was worth the trip! He was absolutely adorable, we watched him climbing around, falling, and generally appearing like a very busy baby.

First we saw Bao Bao, who is 2.

Then, we went inside and saw Bei Bei and momma Mei.

From there, we saw many of the other animals. We made sure to see everyone's favorites: reptiles for Thomas, Ape House for Jack and Amazonia for Anna. While we were in Amazonia, one of the zoologists spent some time talking to us about the beautiful coral. Anna told her she wanted to be a scientist too and later asked a question. The woman told her it was an excellent question and that she had a mind for science. It completely made Anna's day!

The giant fish in Amazonia are always a favorite.

For whatever reason, Kara was being a grouch. She said she only wanted to see giraffes. Unfortunately, there are no giraffes at the National Zoo. She stayed fairly cranky throughout the day. She was hungry, cold (except when she was hot) and tired. We made our way through the zoo and saw most of the animals. The crowds stayed light and it was nice not having to push our way through the exhibits. Luke loved it! He walked for most of the day and loved seeing the animals. I think his favorite was probably an armadillo. He kept running along the display while the animal did the same. We had lunch at the zoo. They raised the prices significantly since our last visit, which was kind of a bummer. I like supporting the zoo, but $10 for a hotdog, banana and juice box seemed a bit excessive (especially when you are buying 4 of them).

Anna loves turtles

Luke and the armadillo

We were done by about 2 (about 4 hours after arriving). The drive home is never as easy as the drive there and we missed one of our roundabout exits. It ended up taking us about 2 hours, which included a stop at Dairy Queen. We got Luke a Julius, which we put in his metal water bottle. Since the bottle has only ever contained water, he was extremely upset when everyone else had Dairy Queen cups. He simply wouldn't take the thermos, instead screaming and crying. Finally, Jack opened the top and got him to actually look at the contents. He was immediately content after realizing we weren't giving him water while everyone else got a treat.

It was a fun day. Today, we did the kid's Valentines and are readying ourselves for the Superbowl. The kids are even excited for the big game. We also did the favors for Kara's party. I honestly hate party favors (I think I rant about this every birthday). I don't like giving them and I don't like receiving them. I think a thank-you note should be written and the favor is unnecessary. That being said, I understand that they are expected and I don't want to disappoint kids. So, we are doing full-sized Hershey bars with a cute, customized wrapper. I am resisting the urge to get more junk to hand out and hope the parents won't be too annoyed at us for giving their kids more junk food.

The kids had their hundred day of school last week. Jack and Anna made shirts. I was proud of their different ideas and thought they came out nicely. Kara's class is celebrating the 101st day of school with a 101 Dalmations theme tomorrow.

She did 100 polka dots to represent the 100 days along with her math facts. (Jack had already put on his coat and wasn't interested in having a picture taken.)

A few random photos to end the post.  First, Kara's "farm". She built it with the Lincoln Logs and left it set up downstairs. Later that day, Jack came running upstairs to tell her the unfortunate news that her farm had been surrounded by an army. He told her that a few militia men were attempting to defend the farm, but they were "not well-trained so it doesn't look good.". Unfortunately, the peaceful farm fell prey to encroaching army.

I find at least 3 pictures of Luke's foot on my phone daily. If I leave my phone anywhere he can reach it, he immediately claims it and does things like, well, take pictures of his foot.

The face that goes with that cute baby foot.

During the last snow storm, we built this snow family to represent us. (Anna is in front of the 6th snowman)

It turned warm and by evening, the Daddy had toppled over. By the next day, we were all just a bit of coal and branches.