Taking Our Zoo to THE Zoo

Our family took our first trip to the zoo. As part of this trip, we also camped for a few days, adding yet another camping trip to our list of the adventures from this summer. We had such a blast and I found myself being a bit sad that this could very well be our last family vacation as a family of 4. Baby #3 will be joining us in December, making us a party of 5. Trips may become a lot more complicated then and maybe even more of a rarity.

Monte took a few days of vacation so we could take an extra long weekend vacation. The morning we were supposed to leave we woke up to trees blocking our road. This delayed our leaving by several hours!

That was really the only wild event that happened though. We arrived at our campsite a few hours later than planned, but that was no big deal since we weren't going to the zoo until the next day.

We love camping and all that comes with that experience. We went for walks throughout the day but never miss the opportunity for an early morning walk, even in pajamas. I have posted before about easy meals we make when camping, but we tried something new and made breakfast sliders. They were very good but a little messy. My kids ate them well but Payton doesn't do the greatest with messy foods so it was harder to convince her to eat them. I do think I will be making them when we have large groups visiting us (like family for the holidays).

On the second day of camping we went to the zoo, the highlight of our whole trip.

We rode horses, fed goats, touched iguanas and snakes, observed the sloth show, dug for  dinosaur bones (in the sandbox), saw all sorts of animals, and hopped on the train. Payton took on the opportunity to hold a butterfly and showed us, once again, that she is truly an animal whisperer. Payton claims everything was her favorite part of the day while Riley loved the monkeys and choo choo train ride.

As we were about to leave, Monte allowed each child to pick something from the gift shop to remember the trip. Riley grabbed a pop up toy that disappeared before the end of the trip and Payton chose a set of butterfly wings. She is now claiming she wants to be a butterfly again for Halloween.

Our zoo trip ended with the train ride and by then Riley was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. He made it through the ride though but was asleep within minutes of getting into the truck.

He slept right through the ride home, complete with a stop at a drive-thru ice cream shop. We didn't have the heart to wake him so I sat with him in the vehicle at our campsite while he continued to sleep. I think it ended up being an almost 2 hour nap! He was tired.

This vacation took place in the area we went to college so each evening while camping, we had friends stop by to visit. All our visitors were friends from college (or high school) and people we still hold dear to our heart. We hadn't seen them in so long so it was so good to catch up. We were thankful for our time with them but the late nights and early mornings quickly caught up to me!

The day after the zoo, we made the trip home. Payton spent this time planning her return trip to the zoo.

We are back home now and trying to relax after taking the first 24 hours back trying to unpack and get the house caught up. Vacations are always a good reminder to me of how important family time is and how much I treasure my time with my babies. I am also so thankful for this man in my life:

I would never want to do life with anyone else and am so grateful for our time together.

For now, it's back to the daily grind! Have a great week!