Z-O-O

Last Sunday we took a quick trip to the Z-O-O.  The grown-ups were discussing taking said trip the day before, but we were spelling out Z-O-O instead of saying it.  Colin looked at us and said, "What about the zoo?"  OH BOY.

So, a warm December morning when it was supposed to rain.  We planned on just hitting up the aquarium, but since it stayed dry, we saw most of the animals anyway!
 

Love the tigers!
 

Coral nursery.


Pennsylvania fishes.




Ha.  So, I was trying to get one of the puffer fish to PUFF for us.  I was not successful.


PUFF.


Daddy's favorite. Ms. Octopus.


Garden eels.



Enjoy the reef.


After enjoying the aquarium we took the long way around back to the car.  We saw some gorillas and bears.  And the flock of peafowl were hanging out near the elephants.





Kid measuring.



Ooo, and my favorite part of this trip!  We lucked into seeing the baby rhino!!  The sign said she wouldn't be out since it was too cold, but I think the day was mild enough they let her out.  So stinking cute.

Hello Mr. Peacock!

One nice day last week, when it wasn't snowing like it was today, we hit the park and visited our friend peacock for the first time this year!

First up, we fed the ducks and geese. Colin would just throw giant chunks of bread in the water. But Gillian would take her time and rip off tiny little bites to throw. Lasted longer that way. I can you this, the ducks and geese don't care what size the bread is!



Then we visited our buddy Mr. Peacock and his nervous-Nelly Peahen.



After seeing all the fowl, we took our bikes down to the bike park. We were the only ones there so we took advantage of all the space and RACED. Colin calls his red bike Lightening McQueen and Gillian calls her blue bike Holly Shiftwell and they like to RACE. And Gillian wins every time. EVERY time. It's not that Colin is slow. It's that he's unfocused. Gillian stares down the finish line and is intensely focused. Colin? Not so much. He prefers to "enjoy the view" while he moseys his way across the parking lot. It's pretty funny to watch. I need to get a video of it!

The kids got tired of racing after a bit so we walked across the road to a little playground and bridge to play before lunch. There was more racing. Foot racing this time!



Yep. They took good naps that day. Love those active, outdoor mornings.

Average Morning

I thought I finally take the camera along on Monday morning to document our usual summer morning fun activities. I've mentioned that we spend a lot of time in the county park, and Monday was no different! We decided to take some bread over to the ducks and see what our buddy the peacock was up to.

This was our first trip to the duck pond without a second set of adult hands; previously I didn't trust the kids with all the abundant goose poop to brave it alone. But, we did well this time. Phew.

See? Fowl!


And bread throwing!



Gillian likes to let the geese get very close to her. Too close for MY comfort, but she likes it. Daddy says that last time we went the geese were eating out of her hand. I did NOT see that.


Colin was more interested in seeing his friend Mr. Peacock.

Unfortunately, the peacock wasn't interested in showing off his tail on Monday. He did talk to us quite a bit though. I think he was in a tizzy because he and the peahen had AN EGG!

Obviously, the no one was sitting on the egg, so I doubt they will make any progress with it, but cool, nonetheless.

After our visit with the birds, we headed down the hill to the playground that we frequent the most (note: not the kids' FAVORITE playground, but the one I make us go to most often). It was a beautiful, beautiful day on Monday and I would have stayed outside forever, but for some reason the kids only wanted to play for about 30 minutes. It was kind of sad!

We had some fun anyway! Climbing:



Sliding:



More climbing:


Some swinging (and silliness):


Oh yeah, and selling ice cream:

There is just something about that little metal half window that makes kids want to sell ice cream from it. C&G just started doing it one time in early spring and like to sell a cone or two every visit. And I've seen other 3,4,5 year olds walk up and do the same thing, without seeing anyone else do it! Not sure if that's what the playground designers intended, but they've set up some nice pretend play areas too!

So, anyway, that's a view at a typical summer morning for us. Lots and lots of outdoor play and exploring!

A-roooo, A-rooo!

I'm not sure if I ever blogged about Colin's supernatural love of peacocks. Anyway, for the past six weeks or so, Colin has been LOVING the peacock. He first noticed it the "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear?" and, for some reason, it took his fancy. When we went to the zoo, we found him a stuffed peacock (that he pretty much ignores). We have also watched peacocks on You.Tube fairly often.

Best of all, though, is the real, live, up-close-and-personal peacock and peahen that live at the game preserve three minutes from our house. We visit often. I will say, the peacock is generally very accommodating and raises his tail and yelps for us. It's very impressive. Gillian has learned to yelp like a peacock too. And both kiddos blow kisses to the pea-couple when we see them.

This weekend we stopped by to see the pea fowl, as usual, but this time we had the camera. Consequently, the peacock was in a bad mood and no plumage was on display. But, here's a shot of a boy and his peacock anyway.