Zoo Adventures

The agenda for Day 2 of Spring Break included a day trip to the zoo. My sister, who has a family membership to the zoo,  generously offered us three guest passes. This saved us $40 in ticket prices. Score!

We brought the wagon, though we tried to let the trio take turns walking around as much as possible. Maddie was terrified of the close proximity to animals in the petting zoo.

Amelia, on the other hand, was fascinated. She kept pointing, yelling, and turning to look at us to make sure we were seeing all of the animals.

Due to a few morning obligations, it was noon before we arrived at the zoo. We stopped to eat our packed lunch at the first available picnic shelter. The kids ate well and ran around the large, shaded area.

Jackson has been counting down days until the zoo for the past few days. When I asked him what animal he wanted to see the most, he said a zebra. Sure enough, he was strangely happy to take a picture in front of the zebras.

I was most excited to see the giraffes, especially since we happened to walk by during their feeding time. It was intensely crowded and you had to walk up stairs to reach the platform. Jesse stayed behind with the trio in the wagon while Jackson and I got up close and personal with one of the giraffes.

Another favorite spot is the elephant exhibit. Due to the crowds, we only let one toddler out at a time to see the animals.

Maddie only tolerated the animals from the safety of the wagon or our arms. In this picture we were pointing at kangaroos.

The aquariums were more impressive than I remembered. It's fascinating to see animals so close up.

Of course, you're able to get great views of the animals in outdoor habitats as well.

Maddie took it upon herself to be in charge of water distribution. She reached behind to grab the cups, and shoved a straw in James or Amelia's mouth. She did this multiple times, then put the cups back in the bag. Silly girl!

I required a family photo in front of the monkeys. Not too bad considering we had already spent nearly two hours in the van and over two hours at the zoo.

Jackson transformed into a whiny, grumpy kid the last 30 minutes. We completely bribed him with cotton candy in order to cooperate for a family picture and walk the rest of the way to the van. Not the greatest parenting, but it worked.

We hit rush hour traffic returning to Charlotte, which caused our trip home to be 2.5 hours. Jackson slept the entire way; the trio slept most of the time. Jesse and I finally finished listening to the Serial podcasts.

Bring on Spring Break: Day 3 adventures!