But, a sunny, perfect 73 degrees, December day, on one of my off days - I'll most definitely take it.
To celebrate, the kiddos and I went to the zoo first thing this morning.
Tucker hasn't quite gotten this whole season-changing thing down quite yet. He knows that the leaves turn colors in the fall and now that the leaves have mostly fallen off the trees and there's talk of Christmas, he keeps asking if it's winter yet. We talk about how it's SO close to winter and that when winter comes it's going to be COLD, but I don't think he quite believe us. When I told him we would be going to the zoo today because it was going to be BEAUTIFUL and we wouldn't have many more zoo days left, he informed me that, "No, we are actually going to stay home today. I get to pick and I want to stay home." Eventually I was able to convince him that we really did need to do something outside so he said he would go to the park. (Work with me here, Buddy!) Finally, he conceded to going to the zoo! Man, you would have thought I was trying to convince him to go to the dentist! (Which is a WHOLE other post lol!)
The thing with my boy is not that he doesn't want to be outside all the time, he does. He just does not EVER want to "get ready". He doesn't want to get dressed, brush his teeth, fix his hair, nothing. He also does not like it when it takes a long time to get somewhere. I'll ask him if he wants to do something and before he responds, he will ask, "Can I wear my jammies?" or "Will it take a long time to get there?" He knows the zoo isn't just around the corner.
Of course, once we "FINALLY" arrived at the zoo after our all of 30 minute drive, Tucker was very happy he agreed that it was a good zoo day. Over the summer we went to the zoo a LOT, at least once a week and sometimes even twice. There was even one week we went 3 times! We've been pretty busy the past couple months so we've only managed to go a few times this fall. Man, there's such a difference going in 90+ degree weather and going in barelyn70 degree late fall weather!
Typically, we are zipping through the zoo making it as far as we can before we start flirting with nap time. Today, the weather was perfect, the kids were perfect, we were almost the only ones there, the animals were playful. We took our time. I let the kids look at animals as long as they wanted to, play on the play ground as long as they wanted to, hang out in the trucks. We were on their time and I intentionally enjoyed every minute of it. We skipped nap and stayed right up to closing. We saw the Mommy Giraffe play with her baby, the elephants have a water fight, the lions were walking around and roaring (they're usually sleeping!), we caught the sea lion performance with the trainers, the polar bear was playing with his ball and doing 'cannon balls' in the water, the tiger was playing with his ball in the water (I thought tigers didn't like water!), we cheered on the penguins racing each other, ran around in the gorilla area, rode the carousel twice, we even made time for the reptiles (an area of the zoo I usually skip because it's at the end).
By the end, we were all wore out, in a good way! :)
I managed to snap a few pictures of our day:
Gracie was sleeping when we arrived and continued sleeping until we got to the elephants.
Tucker was eating a huge carrot that he brought from home. At every animal he would say, "I think he wants my carrot." and "What do you think the giraffe/rhino/warthog/elephant is saying about my carrot?" lol!
They both ate our packed lunch so good that they were allowed an after lunch treat :).
I think the sugar boost totally helped keep them going through nap time!
Gorillas!
Watching the tiger below play in the water
I LOVE these picture of Tucker driving his match car on the glass of the polar bear's tank.
He was watching the polar bear do "cannon balls" in the water and swim out while I nursed Gracie.
Taking a break :)
Tucker was amazed at the skeletons and this African Elephant skull. He's really into skeletons right now. I don't know where that comes from lol!
Gracie getting close with the Orangutan. She would put her hand on the glass and then the orangutan would put his hand up as well. She thought it was hilarious!
Tucker thought Gracie was a little scared so he was letting her know he was there.
Such a sweet big brother!
Thank you for the beautiful day, Lord!
And, mostly thank you for my lovies and for opportunities to just play with them and take in all the goodness that comes with being their Mommy!
Amen
1 comment:
looks like fun! The picture of Tucker in front of the glass tank is really good, too. :)
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