We have family friends who we don't get to see very often. Actually, we have A LOT of family friends we don't get to see as often as we'd like because life is too stinking busy for most of us!!
One of those families is the Minnich family. We've known each other since I was pregnant with Conor and it has been a treat to have our families grow up together. It seems that no matter how much time passes between visits, it is very easy to just pick up where we left off ... even for the kids.
Once Elaine and I realized both of our families had the same day available (GASP!!!), we booked it and wrote it in pen (YES, PEN!!) on our calendars. (OK, to be honest... I put wrote it in dry erase pen because that's the kind of calendar we use, but it was still written in pen.)
We did the full zoo circuit!! As promised, the kids got to ride the carousel (definitely a special treat for them.... I'm too cheap frugal to pay for that very often) and had a marvelous time. Meanwhile, Elaine and I stood on the sidelines talking about how middle age is taking its toll on our various joints and eyesight!! HA!!! (Just you wait, kids ... one day, you too might experience vertigo because of riding on that darned carousel!!!)
After the not-dizzy kids exited the ride, they and their creaking-jointed mothers wandered to the Northern Trail section of the zoo. That's where the grizzly bears, elk, gray wolves, mountain goats, etc. live. The kids played in the "wolf den" (Yes, all four of them did squish in there!) and (impressively) all got out without assistance from the fire department or any other rescue teams. (Elaine and I ... and our old joints ... would not have had the same outcome.) One of the grizzly bears was ever so kind and even smiled when I took its picture (sure, it probably had a muscle twitch in its lip, but I am choosing to say it smiled. IT SMILED, I tell ya!)
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| Conor and Grace in the wolf den |
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| "CHEEEEEEESE!" |
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| Silly kids with elk in the background |
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| The moms |
One of the best parts of the zoo is the Willawong Station, where people can feed the various birds that flit and fly around. They are all beautifully colored and most aren't overly shy. No, they didn't smile like the grizzly bear did, but he kids sure did when the birds landed on their arms and started to peck at the feed sticks!!
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| "Hey, Mom! Look what I found!" |
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| Sheer joy |
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| Her pre-teen height helped her reach the birds that were less interested in the flight to her |
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| Conor feeding his green feathered friend |
We also made sure to stop by the meerkats, komodo dragon, flamingos, emus, wallabys, zebras, tapirs, rhinos (having a little down time in their indoor bath), ostriches, penguins, and more. We covered A LOT of ground during our visit. (My joints are still in recovery mode thanks to me not wearing my running shoes ... fashionable boots have NO place at the zoo!)
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| "Hey. Whatcha doing?" |
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| The kiddos riding the komodo dragon statue |
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| Conor the lion conquerer |
The one thing we didn't do was re-create the photo of Annika and Ethan at the zoo when they were just on either side of 3 and walked around holding hands in their little kid rain coats. Next time for sure!!!
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| When they were so wee |
A special thanks to Elaine, Ethan, and Grace for taking the time to drive over to Seattle and spend time with the crazy ol' Olson crew!!!
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