Visiting the Zoos - Summer Fun

I personally have never really enjoyed zoos that much. I guess we didn't go a lot to the them when I was kid.  I always preferred amusement parks.  However, since I have children of my own, I always think they would love to see the animals.  I do wonder though if two zoos in a matter of two days is a little much. I have a tendency to do things over the top.  :)

So, we ended up on a last minute whim, heading up to Maryland to the Catoctin Petting Zoo.  We ended up going up with Troy, Carrie and Titus and meeting Hubby there.  His work is currently only 15 minutes from our destination.  It was a bit more expensive than we were hoping, but the kids had fun.  It was pretty shade with trees over the path we were walking.  We got to see lots of animals and snakes were a major hit for the kids.  The petting zoo was fun, and the kids loved the monkeys too.  However, i am pretty sure Carrie and I enjoyed the monkeys more than the kids.  They had a few new babies in the cage with their mommies and that was so sweet. 

The kids loved the playgrounds, of course and just running around.  We did get to see an awesome Lioness up really close.  That was so neat being only a few feet from a HUGE lion.  Troy had a stare down with a wild wolf and the wolf was a bit skittish around him.  It was hilarious, the wolf definitely felt challenged and was not sure what to think. 

Afterwards, we headed to the "Mountain Gate" restaurant to get some food.  The kids were hot and tired and so were we.  They did pretty good for the most part of the day though.  Ava and Titus wanted to jump in the water where the alligators were, so we had to explain to them all about how the alligator would "eat" them. :)

As we were leaving the Zoo, Christian and Ava and Titus were playing Tag.  Christian tripped and did a face dive down across a bunch of loose gravel.   We couldn't get to him in time to stop it even though we saw it coming.  He was really beat up and it looked pretty bad for a few days, but he was pretty brave considering. 

Ava says her favorite part of the zoo with Titus was, "seeing bears with him, seeing kangaroos with him, seeing snakes with him, eating ice cream at the supper."  She loves hanging out with her little boyfriend.  Titus tells him mom he is Ava's super hero. :)

When we got home, I put the kids to bed and then started packing for the following day with the planned trip to go with Our Aunt Tammy and Uncle Troy and their son Ty to the "Lake Tobias" zoo.  We couldn't have picked a hotter day to go.  I took my niece Kesley with us too, and we were on our way.  This day was a tad more frustrating than the day before, partly due to heat and partly due to the kids and I already being exhausted.

When we got there, their credit card machine was down, so I had to BUM money off of my 9 year old niece to get into the Zoo.  Then, five minutes after we got there, Ava started saying she had to pee. The thing that made me angry was she had already waited too long an hour before and wet herself.  I didn't have a change of clothes and I was ticked.  Now, we had just entered the Zoo, and she was saying how she had to go.  We stood in line for literally half an hour, and it was so HOT.  When we finally got done, Christian said he had to go.  I told him I was not standing in line again.  :)  I know, No wonder he is still not fully trained.  

We wanted to do the Safari, but it was so HOT, we didn't want to be out in the sun that long.  The kids loved that the trash cans were painted like Zebras and then they got to see real Zebras.  The petting Zoo was definitely their favorite part since they had baby goats.  We were allowed to go into the petting zoo cages and walk right up to the animals.  The kids loved this. The Animals were a little too hot to eat the crackers we bought for them, but that didn't stop the kids from trying their hardest to force food in there mouths. This was comical until we started thinking they might actually be irritating the animals beyond safety.  Ty and Kelsey, Ava and Christian, had a lot of fun feeding the animals.

Chrisitan, Kelsey, and Ty. . . .

The best part was when we saw a goat that was very obviously pregnant.  Her sides were standing out so far and you could see the moving baby in her belly.  The funniest thing was how when she walked, pee would just come out every few steps and then followed by the other.  Kelsey asked if she was pregnant and I said, oh, yes, she was definitely pregnant.  Poor thing.  We kept laughing.

We stopped at the playground and that might have been the best part for the kids.  It was a fun day and the trip home even had a lot of adventure in itself.  We got lost from Troy and Tammy cause I missed my exit.  Kelsey and I had a blast singing on the way home though, and the kids had fun hanging out with their cousins Ty and Kelsey.  However, due to the melt downs on the way home, I decided that was way too much to try and do two zoos in two days back to back.  :)  Won't be doing that one again.