L.A. Zoo Excursion

I took yesterday off from work and Fiona and I took the kiddies to the L.A. Zoo. This trip was the longest the girls have ever taken in their existence. I was hesitant to take this little journey because I didn't think the girls would handle it. The girls behaved rather well. The trip to the zoo was an hour and thirty minutes with a good amount of traffic. Jadon, on the other hand, was behaving quite erratic. He would cry, sulk, and/or complain. We arrived at the zoo about 11:30 a.m. It was quite hot and quite crowded. We probably saw about a dozen or so animals up close. We saw a Kimodo dragon, which was quite a sight (I thought of the movie The Freshman), we saw flaminos (the smelliest part of the zoo), kangaroos, otters, elephants, giraffes (I caught one giraffe taking a leak and another giraffe drinking from it, yuck!), lions, and a few others. Then we hit up some lunch and then caught a bird show at 2:00p.m. Natalie didn't really pay much attention at the show, but Vanessa was into it. She'd see a bird, point at it, and started laughing. What a little hoot. We left at about 2:45p.m. It was quite exhaustive. Jadon was complaining that he was tired but he didn't want to nap in the car. So that led him to sulk and weep quietly through out the trip. Then he got bored and started to torment Natalie. I caught him trying to bit her feet.

(side note observation: Typically when we go out, whether it be to a mall or store, we constantly get onlookers making comments about the girls. When we went to the zoo, there were so many kids and so many strollers. We thought that we would go unnoticed and just blend in with the crowd. That was not the case. There were onlookers and there were comments. I thought that we should have made the girls apart of the exhibit and charge for admission =). )

These trips can take a lot out of someone. Even this morning I am feeling the effects from it. I am physically exhausted. I remember one time when my parents took my brothers and I to Magic Mountain. It must have taken us 2+ hours to get there. The day was hot and the park seemed extremely crowded. My brothers and I were were complaining so much (because of the heat and the long lines) that my parents aborted the trip after one ride (I don't think I went on any because I was under the height requirement for most of the roller coaster rides). We were there probably no more then 30 minutes. I can see that happening when we take our kids out when they get older.