Zoo #4!!

A while back we planned a trip to the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo with our Indy Cousins! This week the trip was finally here! Despite some trouble getting there (I jogged 4 miles the night before and was a little sore and slow, we discovered we only had 3 diapers to last the whole day - or we would have to make a stop, we had an empty gas tank, a warning light came on telling us that one of our tires was dangerously low and needed air - which we discovered after some frantic flipping through the manual - requiring ANOTHER stop, and traffic due to construction), we had a great time once we arrived!

Note: There are tons of pictures and I'm not even sorry - I already cut out a TON!

We discovered that there are a few perks going to a zoo that is specifically for children - things are placed lower and the viewing areas are all designed for short people, there are tons of rides, and there are lots of little places for them to explore and run around! This was great because the twins LOVED running around. This was bad because occassionally we needed them to be in the stroller and this caused massive tantrums every time...but back to the good stuff :)

Driving the jeep at the first interactive area. Allie looks a little wary of her brother's driving...

Cousin M & Allie watching the water. Cousin M was trying to say "hi."
M looking at the lion.

We were able to see the African Journey, Indonesian Rainforest, and most of the Australian Adventure. Keep in mind that this took us almost 5 hours! We didn't ride any rides, we skipped some play places, we hurried through lunch (mostly because someone...one of my children...my little girl...had a temper tantrum), and we still didn't see the whole zoo! It's a pretty incredible place!

On a cot at another one of the play places. Allie was super into the mosquito netting!

The Zebra exhibit was SOOOO cool! People could feed the zebras which meant that they were up really close...as you can see!

In this picture Allie was leaning forward because she was offering her cracker to the zebra...and you can see the zebras tongue sticking out to take it! I caught her before the zebra got the cracker, but not before it got a lick!

In one of the indoor exhibits they had plastic safari hats that the kids loved!

They had a Kid's Treehouse - a small, completely fenced-in area for the kids to run around in. A bridge there, a small open area, and a bridge back. The kids LOVED it!

There was a statue of a komodo dragon in a separate area (surrounded by benches - bonus!), so we penned the area off and let the kids play by the dragon.

They all enjoyed petting the statue.

And climbing on it.

All 3 together!

I may have mentioned tired/cranky kiddos earlier (think lunch). One in particular was super tired...and all it took was a stroller switch up (she and M traded places), and the new digs (and Mickey to cuddle) put her to sleep!

They have a splash fountain, and the kids really enjoyed playing in the water.

See the joy?

Ry-guy & M (Allie was still sleeping at this point)

Then Allie woke up and she shared a nice moment with her brother!

and had some fun on her own!

We talked about making this an annual event (which I think is a great idea!). It was a really fun day, and it was great to spend some fun time with our cousins! Bonus: It was M's FIRST trip to the zoo!!! Its nice to live close enough to be able to have these fun memories :)

The whole gang