Riverbanks Zoo

This was the only day this month that we had no other plans, so I wanted to go on a day trip. My first choice was to go to Boone and admire the fall foliage in one of our favorite places. We chose not to go because it was ASU Homecoming which meant lots of crowds, and the forecast was scattered showers all day. Our second choice was to spend the day at the zoo. We only go to the zoo once or twice a year because the two closest zoos are about two hours from our house. We took the kids to NC Zoo in April and Riverbanks today. Thankfully admission is free for children under two so it wasn't an outrageous cost for our family of six.

Apparently we were one of hundreds of families who also thought it would be a great day to go to the zoo. Jackson was such a trooper and walked the entire time. 

The babies stayed in the wagon most of the time. We did try to take them out as much as possible since they had already spent nearly two hours in their car seats. Unfortunately it was very crowded and the zoo isn't an ideal place to allow three babies to crawl in opposite directions. We made sure to take at least one baby out at each exhibit to get a closer look at the animals.

We packed plenty of food and drinks to keep everyone happily fed and hydrated. I'm sure the trio appreciated the chance to climb, stretch, and cruise around just as much as Jesse, Jackson, and I enjoyed sitting in the shade.

There was African music playing in the area where we ate lunch. Jackson kept giggling and shaking his PB&J, exclaiming, "See, my sandwich is dancing!"

After lunch we went around the petting zoo and saw the last few exhibits.

My favorite animal exhibit is the giraffes. (I asked Jackson what his favorite was and he said, "I love ALL of them!") We were too late for feeding times, but we still admired the giraffes and asked a stranger to take a family picture.

Like most family trips, we were more than ready to return home by the end of our outing.  All four kids fell asleep within five minutes of our trip home and slept almost the entire ride. I was able to finish my novel while Jesse drove. Jesse listened to his NPR in peace. Then everyone had their second wind when we returned home late afternoon.