Zoo

Today is the last day of spring break, and it's cold, rainy/snowy/yucky outside.

John, the boys, and I went to the zoo on Friday. We went fairly early, and it turned out to be a decent day to go. Many schools were on spring break, so there were only 3 buses there, and the forecast for a "chance of rain" in the afternoon I think kept people away. It was overcast, but actually kind of comfortable...50ish when we got there, almost 60 when we left.

This is the second time that Evan has been there; he was much younger the first time. He adores his books with animals...giraffes and elephants seem to be his favorites. He also loves water and things that splash in water. One of the first animals we saw was the polar bear---huge smile on Evan's face! He was absolutely amazed by the dolphin show; when the dolphins did an out-in-the-air trick, he would sign more and say "mo." The 15 minutes of keeping him happy while waiting for it to start was quite a workout for me (a lot of hanging him upside down), but it was well worth it.

His look on his face when he saw the giraffes was one of amazement---he didn't want to leave them---same thing when he saw the elephants.

We went on the train ride that goes around the zoo. He wasn't too happy about that. About half way through, he settled down, but it wasn't worth the effort. One doesn't see animals on this ride; it goes around the "outside"---we saw many buildings, a gas station, and his favorite, a busy road which is what actually got him to settle down.

His FAVORITE part of the zoo was seeing the dog sharks! First, he got to put his hands into the water; that was a plus....then he got to touch a "fish"--definite plus. We went there twice, and when we tried to leave, I put him down, and he ran back to it--very cute. :)

trying to get in with them

We were only there for a few hours which was enough time for him. He looked exhausted when we left. He pointed to the dvd screen in the van, so I thought, sure, watching a movie will keep him awake for the almost hour ride home. Then, he can take a nice, long nap when we get home. Well, it seemed to be working; he watched Blue's Clues, but then about 15 minutes before we got home, he started to get really dozy. I tickled the legs, put on Little Einsteins for a change in movie (which worked for a minute or two), but those eyes were so heavy! He never really fell asleep, so I thought we were good when we got home. Oh how wrong I was! He needed to "unwind," and that he did! For the first hour in his room, he was fairly quiet, but I could hear that he wasn't asleep. Then he started "calling" me, and I went in and changed a dirty diaper. I thought he was good to go. Nope, for the next hour, he was a little more active in his room; I could hear a lot of jumping. I took him into our room; he likes to put all our pillows on top of himself. He's never fallen asleep in there, but I thought it was worth a try. But no, that didn't work either. So, I brought him downstairs....around 5, and within 5 minutes, he was asleep on the floor! We let him sleep for about an hour, and thankfully, it really didn't affect his bedtime.

Kyle and Matt's day at the zoo----Kyle was the official announcer of what time it was (every 10 minutes or so); Matt seemed to enjoy it.

This was taken at the end of our trip there...I guess I was the only one who had the energy to look at the camera.

When he sleeps, he keeps his blankie around his neck...has done this since, I don't know, around 5 months.

***Yes, I gave him a haircut recently, and yes, it was an awful experience.***