Zoo-ing It Again!

About 1.5 weeks after we got back from vacation and got to hung out with our Las Vegas family, they came out here on their vacation!  We were excited to get to see them again so soon, and since one of the places they wanted to go while they were out here was the LA Zoo, and since my mom and I have guest passes and could get them in for free, we joined them!  We had a really good time showing them one of our favorite places!  After lunch, Jack even got to go for a ride on my aunt's scooter (and he drove for a second, too... shhh!)!  We had a blast with them!

 
 

 

 
 


Added bonus: we found the perfect boat hat for Jackson! Finally! Not he won't have to wear grandma's extra hat (which was mine from when I was a teenager).

When we got home from the zoo we picked up our missing family members (and paused to give the babies naps, of course!) and headed over to their hotel for dinner so that we could continue our visit.  It was so fun!  Jack's favorite part was that my Uncle Mark let him jump all over the bed, Sam and Luke liked playing peek-a-boo in the cupboard under the sink (which Sam was an old pro at), and Hudson had a blast showing off his new army-crawling skills!

 

 

 

Did I Mention We Heart The Zoo?

As I mentioned in my previous post, in the first week of February we made two zoo trips... the second one only 3 days after the first!  We went again so soon for a few reasons, first being that my sister mentioned that she'd like to go, and second because the zoo was having a special event during which they put snow in some of the animals' exhibits!  I thought it would be really cool to see the animals frolicking in the snow, so we packed up the boys and headed to the zoo!  And not only was Amy able to join us this time, but so was Travis and my dad! 

 
All eight of us were surprised by the sponsor booths set up at the entrance, but we didn't hesitate to go and check them out!  Jack got to learn all about preventing forest fires, he and Luke got to sit in a police car (Luke turned on the siren on accident!), and Jack checked out the fire engine while I accidentally insulted the firemen when I told Jack that their gear wasn't as dirty as daddy's gear was! 

After checking out the booths, we headed to see  the animals!  Our first stop was the nursery, of course, to check on Jack's pals, the baby komodo dragons!

The train at the zoo only runs on holidays and weekends, and since we always go midweek Jack never gets to ride it!  He was really excited, then, when we realized that it was running this day!!!  He and Luke got to ride it twice!

Luke really wanted to ride standing up and had a hard time remembering to sit... Jack helped to hold him still!  Such a good big cousin!

The snow exhibits were a pretty big disappointment, unfortunately.  Every animal was ignoring the snow- even the snow leopard!  I guess they've all been in Los Angeles too long and have acclimated to our weather...?  Either that or we missed their playtime.  The tiger walked over the snow for a second, but then he ran right off of it again to go lay down.  Bummer.

Aside from my disappointment in the snow, it was definitely the easiest trip I'd ever had to the zoo!  Mom, too!  I am used to juggling two kids while my mom takes care of Luke... it was freeing for her that Luke had his mommy there to take care of him (and he was loving having her there, too!) and she got to play with Jack more than she is usually able to, which both of them loved!

And Sam was loving having Uncle Travis' full attention!

And at one point, my dad was playing with Jack, and both my mom and I were free!!!  We had dad take a picture of us, sans kiddos, to commemorate the moment.

(I have no seque for these photos, but I like them so I'm just sticking them in here)

(note the elephants as they ignore the snow)

Sam was having such a great time with Uncle Travis, that he didn't even start whining and crying when he got tired... he just put his head down and zonked out!  And he stayed like that forever!!!  Amazing!!!



(must include a photo of one of Amy's favorites... the orangutan)


And on our way to seeing Jack's favorite animal, the komodo dragon, Jack saw that the Kangaroo's name was Jack, too!  He was so excited about that and now declares that the Kangaroo is his new favorite animal.


Sam finally woke up as we were headed to the exit, so on the way out he decided to get some walking practice with grandma and Auntie Mimi


He was so refreshed after his nap.  He never sleeps that long in the afternoons- he must have thought that Uncle Travis' arms were very comfortable!  


Uncle Travis had such a good time, too, that he even came with us the next time we went to the zoo!  Once again, Sam fell asleep in his arms... and even though I tranferred him to the stroller to sleep, he had another epic nap!  I think Uncle Travis is going to have to come to the zoo every time we go, if just so that Sam gets a great nap!

Memorial Weekend, Part One: Saturday

On Memorial Day weekend my sister decided that she wanted to go to the zoo, so my mom and I busted out our passes and we took the boys and my dad with us!

It was Sam's first trip to the zoo (you know, outside my uterus), so I wanted to make sure that I got some pictures of him enjoying himself!

Jack's favorite exhibit was the elephant exhibit, which has been closed for the past two years! How can that be his favorite if it's closed? Why, because they are constructing a new facility, of course! He loved see the bulldozers and skip loaders and other cool machinery at work!

He also loved the mist sprayers... this was the first time they had been turned on since getting our passes and I knew he'd enjoy that. He's such a water kid!

He did have fun looking at the traditional zoo exhibits (read: animals), too, even if they weren't as exciting as the bulldozers and misters.

This was really the first time that Luke really noticed and appreciated all of the animals, and I was really glad that my sister got to be there for that since usually my mom and I take him while Amy is working. It was really fun to watch his reaction to the animals!

Luke really enjoyed having his mommy there, too!

Now, I usually don't take pictures of animals, but I just had to take a picture of this Orangutan! She had stuck her arm through her rope-net cage and had a stick in hand. It took us a second, but we realized that she was trying to get a leaf that was in the water! I thought it was pretty smart of her :)

After lunch all the boys were tired, so we put all of them in the stroller, and two of them fell asleep!

And then, before heading home, we visited Jack's other favorite part of the zoo. The hand-washing station just outside of the petting zoo.

Have I mentioned how much that kid loves water?