A Remarkable Day.

We made it!! And we had a remarkably good time at it, too. I would definitely say that our Adventure to the Zoo was a rip-roaring success. Kudos to God for all His grace and provisions! I'm feeling a tad victorious right now....so I think we may have to tackle an adventure another time. So how do I even begin to summarize such a full and fun day?

We left the house this morning a little after 9:00. I was amazed at how well the kids' attitudes were. We didn't have any grumbling as we walked out the door....even when they knew they had to walk to the bus stop. I did have to negotiate with Luke though. He had loaded up his toy travel bag with toys to take with him. Yikes. I knew who would end up carrying that in a very short amount of time. I finally negotiated him down to one toy cell phone that fit well into his pocket. Whew!

Here they are waiting for the bus this morning. It was a tad chilly....but the excitement kept them warm in anticipation.

The God thing for the day was the bus driver of our first bus. When I bought our tickets at Albertson's last night, they only had adult all day passes. It cost me a bit more...but the convenience felt worth it. The bus driver was not too thrilled with how much I had paid. He only took one of my tickets and gave me 4 in return. I was so flabbergasted that I didn't know what to say. He told me: "I'm giving you a break on the tickets....now go sit down." Alrighty then. Pretty cool, though...except now I don't know what to do with the 3 other unused tickets. Guess I will have to come up with something! He was also helpful helping me find our connecting bus. I felt like he was a real blessing for this Suburbanite Mom. As you can see....the kids thought that the bus was totally cool!
I was a tad amazed at how well behaved Luke was on the bus. I expected to be all over him about climbing over everything. He did very well....and I was very pleased.

Even waiting for the MAX to arrive was a little exciting.....though we did have to cross the tracks a couple of times to make sure we were going to get on going the right direction. More for the adventure, I guess!


Finally, we arrived!
There was so much to see....so much to do. Everyone had their favorites that they just had to see first. I guess that is one good thing about the zoo being so large....you have to follow the paths or you will wear yourselves thin real fast. When I was packing last night, Tim said to take lots of pictures and not worry about the number. So....since there is a lot to see....I took a lot of pictures. Over a 140 if I remember right. So, I just picked out a few to highlight the day.

Probably my favorite exhibit of the day was the polar bears. Usually, we catch them snoozing....but this morning they were just having a grand time. Swimming here, rolling around there, zooming by us time and time again. It was so much fun.

We stopped in one final time to peek at the polar bears on our way out this afternoon. You guessed it....snoozing. Ho hum.

Luke's favorites were the rhinos. The first time we went through, we didn't see them. Luckily we did catch them on our way back through so that everyone could see their favorites one last time. Yeah, God.


On our first time through the African exhibits....we did see the hippos. I had to add this picture because Luke's face just cracks me up. You may have to click on the picture to see it better....but the hippo has this MOUNTAIN of poo behind him that was just a tad shocking. Ha ha!

Then, of course, we had to see the monkeys.


Nuf said.

The penguins were also a hit. We made it there right about feeding time and that was a lot of fun to watch. Greedy little buggers. The kids found them particularly exciting after I told them that their cousin, Alyssa, use to call them "Pink Ones." They giggled about that for quite some time.


I heard Caden tonight telling his dad what his favorite part of the day was. His response: cotton candy. Gag. I think that stuff is so incredibly nasty....it looks like they're eating insulation...and it tastes....blech. But as he was stuffing mounds of it into his mouth, he declares: "I've now had my cotton candy fix." What???


Many of the parts of the zoo were under construction. For some reason, I was a little surprised. I was thinking that this would be entering into their "high" season and they wouldn't want to disturb that in any fashion. Yet, with all the construction, and the new parts that I hadn't seen before, I had to take a picture of the tigers. I remember coming to the Oregon Zoo when I was a kid visiting my "Oregon cousins." I think of those times every time I see the tigers. The exhibit looks pretty much the same.


Another huge blessing of the day was that our attitudes, even mine, stayed remarkably pleasant throughout the day. We weren't perfect....but...considering the length of the day, the excitement, the tiredness....we did great! Caden did get a little grumpy when I let Luke have a turn taking pictures with the camera. I told Luke to get a picture of Caden's grumpy face, which made Caden scowl and growl all the more. Incredibly, Luke not only got the scowl....but it is a pretty good picture to boot.

That pretty much highlights our day. I couldn't have asked for a better time. I was hoping to capture a picture of sleeping kids on the bus on the way home....but amazingly they were still a little jazzed on the way home. I kept waiting for the crash.....but it never really came. Except for come bedtime. They went to bed with nary a peep. I know for sure that the boys are down for the count....haven't checked on Daria. Luke walked most of the day....and for him....that was amazing.

It was a good day....and I give God the glory for that. I guess that my kids and I are really growing up. Who knew. Here are a couple of pictures that I thought were nice of my kids. They actually look like they like each other.






This last picture is just as we were saying goodbye to the zoo. Can you see? They are still smiling....and not shoving each other off the statues. What other proof do you need?