Lions & Tigers & Bears, but no monkeys...

With impeding doom forecasted in our state's weather this weekend, Ben and I woke up Friday morning determined to soak in as much Vitamin D as we possibly could.

Hmmm, where would you take three kiddos on a beautiful day, during spring break, when snow would soon force you to be inside for days?

If you said the zoo, then you had the same ideas as us, and every other parent in our city.

Seriously.

There were so many people at our little zoo, I thought I would surely die of claustrophobia.

We did see some tigers, giraffes, buffalo, and a slew of other animals, minus the elephants who were at another zoo for mating season (try explaining that to a three year old), and minus the monkeys, who were in hiding. I can't say I blame them. I mean, seriously, thousands of children were everywhere!

My three had a blast though. This picture is a perfect representation of my children in regards to animals. Ellie Kate is an animal lover who would have gladly ridden on the backs of these 20 foot tall creatures. Peyton, on the other hand, is not quite sure about the frog that lives on our back porch...

Peyton kept saying, "go'way an-muls," I think its safe to say she ain't gonna be a veterinarian - but at least it is safe to say she won't be an old lady with forty cats either. I'll take that as a victory.

Whose grand idea was it to bring the wagon? A device that children can strap and unstrap themselves into. Not.A.Good.Idea. Mental note dually noted.

All in all, we had a really great day at the zoo. I wish I had taken a picture of Stone in his stroller snoozing the whole time. Boy did he get his Vitamin D. The sun was beautiful and we even lasted through half of the sea lion show before my kids began their low blood sugar meltdown.

I was greatly reminded of how wonderfully glad I am that God chose to give us children so close in age. It may have been a doozy at first, but they sure do love each other. I am always reminding them that they have a "built-in playmate for life." What a gift.