One of the great things about going to Springfield over Memorial Day weekend is we didn’t have to go home Saturday night! Sunday morning we headed to church. And then we got to do something we’ve been wanting to do but just haven’t had time- go to the ZOO in Springfield! Laney had actually never been to a zoo… which is funny because we kept telling her “Laney, we’re going to the zoo!” “Aren’t you excited for the zoo?!” and she finally said “What’s a zoo?”
Anyway, we ran home after church to change clothes, grabbed a couple of sandwiches at Subway, and had a little picnic at a park next door to the zoo.
Audrey mostly slept through the picnic…
Laney ate about 4 bites, then ran off to play on the equipment! Oh well…
The zoo in Springfield is called the Dickerson Park Zoo. One cool thing about it is the peacocks that just wander around. They make these screaming/cat noises, and they’re everywhere. One of their favorite places (or so it seemed) was right at the gate…
We brought the stroller, but Audrey was the only one in it most of the time! Laney spent most of the day climbing on fences to get a better look at the animals… flamingoes, in this case!
Just a few cute pics…
Laney was fascinated by the map… hopefully she will have a better sense of direction than her mommy!! :)
They had a petting zoo, too, where you could buy some food and feed some animals. They mostly had goats, but that didn’t seem to bother the girls!
And, never fear, the babies were enjoying their trip to the zoo, too! Kael spent the day chillin’ in his stroller with a bottle…
…and Audrey mostly slept!
It was REALLY hot, so we were all glad to find this little sprinkler. Just a nice fine mist. Most of us just kind of walked through for a refreshing mist. The girls, on the other hand… they just stood in it until they were dripping! We finally got them both out, and they ran right back in! Oh well, they were sure having fun!
Laney liked all of the big cats. She spent awhile pounding on the glass yelling “Here, Kitty!” It was pretty funny… but the picture came out pretty well!
Part way through the zoo, everyone needed a little break, so we went for another first- first SNOW CONE! Everybody loves a snow cone, and Laney was no exception! We did have to put it in a cup and give her a spoon, though… didn’t quite have the eating part down!
Shortly after our snow cones, it started pouring down rain. We expected it to be a short shower, but it actually rained pretty hard. The kids all went back into their strollers, and we spent some time in the cheetah lookout, which had a roof. Eventually, though, we just gave up and kept walking… we got soaked, but it was nice and warm, so it was still fun!
One of the coolest animals to watch was actually the hippo. He was MASSIVE, and I guess he was feeling playful, because he was in his pool wrestling with a tree/log that they had for him to play with. The girls were pretty amazed!
You can just see the log underneath his head… sure wouldn’t want to go up against one of these in the water!
And, finally, a peacock to bid us goodbye!
The zoo really was a lot of fun, despite the rain. Laney says her favorite animal was the giraffes. They were pretty cute. We missed giraffe feeding time by about 15 minutes… we’ll have to make sure we get there a little earlier next time!
After the zoo, we tried to get Laney to take a nap, but she wouldn’t have any of it. So, we just headed into the backyard to play with bubbles while Grandpa & Daddy grilled. It was a beautiful evening, and so nice to just relax for a couple of hours after our busy weekend!
Playing with the bubbles… don’t mind the outfit, she was not interested in changing clothes. We put on comfy pants to nap, and then she took out her pig tails… oh well, fashion doesn’t count in the backyard!
Josh & Dad, grilling and being goofy!
Dinner that night was awesome- pork chops & pork steaks, with our new apple cinnamon bbq sauce (which was every bit as delicious as we were hoping!).
Monday morning we got up and had a big breakfast, then the girls, Josh, & I headed to Grandma De & Grandpa Don’s house for lunch. They hadn’t met Audrey yet, so it was fun introducing her to a new side of the family! We had lunch with Drew & his family, and Jeff, too, which was cool. We hadn’t seen them since Christmas, so it was pretty neat. They loved Audrey, and were amazed at how much Laney had grown! We wandered outside looking for Anaias for awhile, but he wasn’t interested in eating the wild strawberry we found, and it was REALLY hot outside… so we spent most of the afternoon inside, playing!
Love that we got her this laptop toy for her first birthday… it’s the longest lasting toy she has, and she still loves playing with it!
She did take a break from her laptop to torture Grandma with one of her Look & Find books! She sure does love them…
There are some more pictures on the baby blog week 9 post… but, PHEW, what a weekend! We had an absolutely fantastic time. Loved seeing all of the family, and having time to hang out down there for a long weekend, instead of racing down on Friday and back to Columbia on Saturday. What a treat!
1 comment:
And we loved having you come spend time with us too! Thanks again for coming. Love, G'De
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