Memorial Day weekend = zoo trip!

First, just let me start by saying, I love the Charlie and Lola cartoons. We get them from the library. Maybe I love them so because of the charming artwork, or their British accents, but I think it's because Lola says things like "Snow is my favorite and is my best." For whatever reason, it's lovely.

But enough about television. The Zoo is why we are all here today, reading this blog. Right?

 I brilliantly thought the zoo would be less crowded on the Friday before Memorial Day. And it possibly was, but it still felt pretty crowded.  The parking lot was full. We ended up parking up the street near a little monument about Emigration Canyon, which was well worth the read. Very interesting. So we had a fairly good walk before we even got to the zoo.

For the first few minutes Nathan would look at an animal for about ten seconds before he was ready to move on. At that rate, we would have covered the entire zoo in about thirty-seven minutes. Luckily he slowed down when we got to the seals.

Having a snack at the elephant pavilion. Arriving at the zoo around lunchtime, armed with only paltry snacks, was not my best moment as a mother. We snacked on peanuts, carrots, banana chips, and pretzel balls for a couple of hours before I broke down and bought the popcorn Nathan had been requesting since we arrived. All the treats available, and he wanted popcorn? But the bag fed all of us, and paired with a tiger's blood snow cone, it felt pretty good.

 Unbidden, he decided to see if his head would fit in an elephant's mouth. It would. Good to know?

 The seals were really cool. We stopped here for a long time, had more snacks, then watched a short presentation about animal habitats, when the kids got to touch a snake and a rabbit.

 Part of the zoo is closed, but I'm glad they moved the lion drinking fountain so we could get a drink. We had to wait in a pretty long line. According to the kids, totally worth it.

 After hearing these kids fight so often, it does my heart good to see Nathan help Clara with things. He's turning out to be a good big brother. Here he's pushing the button because her hands weren't strong enough.

 Alice got a short nap. Lucky. Later Clara was tired so we took (now-awak) Alice out so Clara could ride. She got pretty mad. That was her stroller.

 Lego monkeys!

 In the reptile house. We had to take two trips inside to see the alligators. Or are they crocodiles?

 Nathan put his hat on the tiger but wouldn't stay for the picture.

 Hm. Blogger has decided to stretch horizontal pictures weirdly. Sorry.

Alice loved this elephant. Also, she prefers not to hold your hand while walking. She knows that's just a ploy to get her to go where she doesn't want to. She's a smart cookie.

The kids slept all the way to Burger Bar, where we picked up dinner before we got home. Burgers and a peach shake. Hello, summer. Nice to meet you.