Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo!

Wednesday was a BUSY day. Every Wednesday I do a practice tri with the 2 other women I train with - all 3 events in a row (we always TRY to do the full distances of the race). This week we had to start an hour earlier than usual to make sure one of the husbands got to work on time. Did you know that the sun isn't up at 6am? We do now! We ended up starting our tri by swimming in the pre-dawn dark (no worries, we did laps in the shallow swimming area)!

I got home and had just enough time to shower and get ready to go with our Women's Fellowship to tea and a fashion show with other local churches. It was a really fun time of fellowship! And then I got home just in time to get everything ready for us to go to Member's Night at the Potter Park Zoo!

You may remember us going to PPZ earlier in the summer...and it being a little under-whelming because all of the animals were taking their siesta! This time it was SO much more fun!

First, Lucas and I managed to forget our stroller (long story), but for a VERY small fee we were able to rent this awesome bus for the twinners! And since everything else that night was free, and they had SO much fun in the bus, we decided it was worth the money!

One of the cool events of Member's Night is FREE pony rides! We thought the twinners would be too little, but they let us walk alongside and it was perfect!

Ry-guy looks a little surprised, but he enjoyed being close to such a big animal!
Allie kept saying, "isa nay nay!" Translation = "It's a horse!" (neigh, neigh - we've been working on animal sounds, can you tell?) She was also fond of looking down to see how far up she was!
The biggest thrill for me was that the penguins were awake! AND we were there just before feeding time!! Another cool perk was free "seed sticks" for the Wings From Down Under exhibit. At first we didn't think we would use them, but this ended up being one of our favorite things! You get to go in the aviary and the birds land on the stick you are holding and eat right in front of you!! I TOTALLY recommend this exhibit, especially since the seed sticks are only $1. It is so worth it to get to see the birds that close!

Allie & Daddy feed a Budgerigar. She was in awe.Ry-guy and me with an Eastern Rosella. I had to stay on alert to keep him from grabbing the birds!

Last time all the big cats were sleeping. This time they were wide awake - playing in the water outside, checking out the visitors, and even eating!

It was a little unnerving the way this lion watched the twins running back and forth in front of the window...

We made sure to stop at the Farmyard (since they know all the animals from our favorite song "Old MacDonald!).

The twins checking out a saanen goat.

Twinners checking out the toy China pigs.

I wanted a picture of their faces while they watched the pigs they were engrossed!

The twinners with Ned, the zoo mascot (they were in awe, but they did smile and wave at him).

Our last stop was the otter exhibit. I was hoping this would be a fun finale, and I wasn't disappointed!

The twinners watch the otter swim by (the otters were super friendly and definitely liked to put on a show so they swam by a lot!)

And every time an otter swam by this is how their faces looked (you will have to imagine the peals of giggles that caused everyone who went by to stop and look and smile)!

It was SUCH a fun night. Although our first time there we weren't super impressed, this fun evening totally changed my perspective, and now I can't wait to take the twinners back for another fun excursion!

Before we left the zoo, we picked up a very special guest to bring home with us. More on our mystery guest to come (those who know, don't spoil the fun)!!