Zoo Boo

On Friday, we arrived at the zoo at 9:20, quite impressed with ourselves and quite amazed that we didn't have the zoo to ourselves.  It was a beautiful morning and one of a few days of Zoo Boo where they have candy and other fall festivities, and half the children - including half of mine - were in costume.

Grammy beat us there, and ninja Collin snuck up on her.  We headed in together and before seeing an animal, had to climb on and pose with the sea lion statue.

I was often pushing around a stroller filled with our diaper bag and snacks, and my mom was walking with the kids. In typical toddler fashion, Maya was equally fascinated by the wheelchair ramps and black crows as she was by the giraffes.    

They had some carnival-type games, and Collin tried his strength.  Both kids jumped in the bounce house, though Maya was uninterested in leaving, and I had to go in to drag her out, kicking and screaming.  

On to the elephants -

Maya was amazed/terrified by the elephants and kept a pretty tight grip on my mom or me -

Posing with the statue -

We visited a very crowded pumpkin patch where kids could decorate mini pumpkins with paint pens.  Maya lasted about 30 seconds, but I was happy that her cute dress stayed paint-pen-free!

We saw the leopard pacing, the male lion roaring, but the cheetahs must have been sleeping near the fence, so we posed with their statue and moved on.  

Checking out the giraffe, zebra and ostrich -

Taking a snack break.  I pushed Collin in the stroller more than Maya, so she needed the nourishment and rest, plus she likes to climb on everything, benches included -

My little monkeys near the orangutans -

One last bench pose after a fun morning at the zoo -

And more realistic, Collin showing off his ninja moves, Maya singing Twinkle, Twinkle and performing the hand motions for "like a diamond in the sky" -

I am thankful for a fun Friday morning with my mom and kids at the zoo.  And I was even more thankful that my parents took our kids for the night, giving Cas and me our first night together without the kids since Maya was born.