the zoo

'Twas the weekend before school started, and I was exhausted. You'd think that would mean I would want to lay low for the weekend. Rest. Relax. Be lazy. Well, that's probably what Pat was hoping I'd want to do. Instead I decided we needed to go on an adventure! Something we'd not done before with the kids, but something we could do with Kellan (9 months). Some friends suggested Tweetsie (too expensive), Dan Nicholas (Finn had been there before), State Parks @ local lakes (thought about it, but we go to the lake a lot), Lazy 5 Ranch (we've been there several times) and I think there were a few other suggestions.

All summer long Finn had been asking to go to the zoo. We just never found a day where Pat and I could both go. This was the perfect opportunity to do a zoo trip. In debating between the 2 zoos...the NC Zoo I feel is way too vast for our young family. Too big, too much walking. We needed something we could cover in 3-4 hours. So we went to Riverbanks in SC. It was a great opportunity for Pat to drive HIS minivan on a long trip.

Finn did very well on the trip down (2 hours). Pat's van has a built in DVD player, so he watched TMNT on the way down. We drover during Kellan's nap, so he slept the entire way. Finn had no idea where we were going. Within the previous few days, he had night potty-trained himself, and we wanted him to know how proud we were by taking him somewhere. We just told him it was a special trip. He thought we were going for ice cream (because ice cream is a special trip).

As we pulled in I video taped his reaction. He wasn't necessarily super excited at first. So, the reaction isn't worth posting on the blog. But, he seemed genuinely happy to be at the zoo, and wanted to see giraffes and lions.

I think it took an entire hour (I'm exaggerating) just to unload, get tickets, and go to the bathroom before venturing out to the different exhibits. I lathered Finn up with sunscreen while Pat took Kellan for a diaper change and Finn says, "Mommy, are we going swimming at the zoo?" I tell him no and he says, "Well I don't know why you're putting on sunscreen then."

Our first stop was the reptile house and the aquarium. I walked through as quickly as I could, trying NOT to look at the 3,382,950 snakes they had on display. But I wanted to watch Finn's reaction. Brave boy would go right up to the glass and look eye to eye at the nasty things. He was so full of wonder. He bounced from animal to animal. Most of his wonder came at the aquarium. There were so many different fish he had never seen in "real life". We got to see a few small sharks, lots of very colorful fish, stingrays, starfish, and jellyfish. Finn loved that you could get so close that it was like you could touch them. I think, by far, the aquarium was his favorite exhibit.

Our next stop was tortoises and elephants. No interest. Then small mammals. No interest. This was odd. Then meltdown ensued due to hunger. We got a snack and drink as quickly as we could while we figured out where to eat lunch. Crisis averted.

Giraffes were next. And finally, we are back to being enthralled! Finn had seen giraffes before at Lazy 5, but still enjoyed watching them as they interacted and ate grass or tree branches:

Onto the ostriches and zebras we went:

The "farm" was next. Cows, horses, chickens, and a small assortment of others. Finn learned how to milk a "cow". He got to pet a few animals. We even paid for a horse ride. Which...he waited in line 20 minutes for, then got out of line to go potty, and we weren't about to wait in line again. No horse ride. We did let him ride the train though:

^ Our little trooper ^

The big beasts were next. For the longest time, Finn has had a fear of bears. We have always explained that bears live in the zoo...not in our yard, and not under his bed. This was our opportunity to prove that to him. I was a little disappointed that they only had one type of bear, but it did the trick. He was pretty interested:

^ This bear was taking a mud bath - right by Finn's finger ^

^ This bear was eating tree limbs ^

Lions and tigers were right next door. Finn LOVES. I mean LOVES lions. There was a male and female lion and he was truly enthralled by them. The male lion kept bugging the female, she'd swat at him, and he'd roar at her. It was truly amazing to hear him roar in person.

^ He's right over Finn's left shoulder ^

The tiger was a party pooper, so no picture. It started to rain at this point so we took a break and rode the carousel a few times:

Finn probably would have stayed on the carousel all day if we had let him. Kellan got a little bit of time out of the stroller (don't judge - we didn't pack shoes for him - and yes he had a bath that night):

Gorillas/Monkeys were next - Finn wasn't interested really in the animals as much as the statues that he could climb up on:

As the rain picked up, Finn and I wandered into a bird sanctuary. You could buy nectar to feed the birds for a quarter - guess who didn't have a quarter? So we walked around and watched the birds land on the people holding the nectar. Finn goes right up to a bird on a branch and pokes its beak. I'm totally surprised it didn't nip his finger off.

He said at one point, "Mommy get that bird for me and put it on my shoulder." Yeah, not happening buddy. As both boys were starting to wind down, we headed back to where we the pre-lunch meltdown began. Saw the elephants, small mammals, and tortoises:

On our way to the exit to get some Dippin' Dots for the road - this is how he truly felt about his special day - love this!

He fell asleep as soon as his ice cream was done on the way home, and as soon as he woke up he wanted to know when we were going back to that place. I'm so glad I could be there to experience his first zoo trip. I know a lot of kids experience the zoo for the first time on a field trip and their parents don't always get to go. I cherish this day with my family! There's nothing quite like the wonder in a young child's eyes.

Yours,