Zoo

Ugh.  I can't believe that it has been almost a week since I posted.  We have been having an insanely fun week around here!
On Tuesday I decided that it was time to brave the zoo again.  If any of my loyal readers remember our last zoo experience, they can understand why this was such a giant deal.  Plus I was taking the three kids all by myself this time.  The libraries here have free passes to local attractions that you can check out.  I got a zoo one that let two people in free (Reese and I) and then Jessenia and Brisbane are free based on their ages. 
I woke up EARLY to get everything ready.  The zoo opens at 7am in the summer here because it is blazing hot.  I wanted to get there as early as possible so we all didn't burn to a crisp.  I woke the kids early, they were a little grumpy, but as soon as they heard the word 'zoo' they jumped out of bed and got dressed.  The kids have been asking to go to the 'animal zoo' for a few weeks now (ever since Reese learned about animals in Sunbeams).  Plus Reese has decided that instead of being a City Bus Driver he wants to be a Zoo Keeper.  (We are kind of excited about this because at least you need a college education for the second aspiration.  Plus...free zoo passes...and behind the scenes access!  Much better than free bus passes.)
Due to some indigestion issues we didn't get off as early as I had hoped but we arrived at the zoo at 8:30 and got started.  Jessenia was terrified.  The first animal we saw was the elephants and she wouldn't even get out of the stroller.  The elephant was all the way on the other end of the pen, a good 200 yards away, and she wouldn't budge.  Reese was fascinated though and had a MILLION questions.  He wanted to know 'why' all of the animals were doing what they were doing.  I told him there are just certain things we don't know about what animals are thinking.  He asked me if I would talk to them and ask them.  No, Reese, I am not Dr. Dolittle!

 Jessenia refused to pose for a picture near any animal enclosures, but Reese was super cute!

 I did catch Jessenia looking at the ducks in one of the large ponds.

 And she gave me a big cheeser grin on one of our many snack stops.

 I figured since we got into the zoo absolutely free, we could take as much time as we wanted and see as little as we wanted.  That meant a lot of stops for snacks and to give our legs a break.

 Brisbane did not leave the stroller the whole time we were at the zoo.  And yet he was still impeccably behaved...although maybe a little warm.

 Before we left for the zoo, I asked the kids what animals they wanted to see.  Jessenia wanted to see an elephant and a giraffe.  Those were both easy enough.  Here are both kids in front of the giraffe enclosure.  Reese wanted to see an alligator and a cow.  Unfortunately the Phoenix Zoo does not have an alligator (or crocodile) and the cow was at the very end of the Children's Trail (which we did not go down this time).  But he saw an African Cattle and he seemed satisfied by that.  He also spent the whole time we were there begging to see the tigers.  And he got that wish.  The tiger was definitely the most active animal we saw all day.
We only own a double stroller and so Reese and Jessenia took turns riding.  Towards the end, as we were walking up a hill, Reese turned to me and said, "Mom, I'm tired!"  {most pathetic voice ever}  I laughed at him, since I was walking the entire time and pushing two kids around.  The kids were awesome the whole time and did not complain once.  In all I consider our zoo trip a huge success!

Reese has spent the last two days pouring over his Zoo map.  I even drew on the map which trails we had walked during our visit.  "Mom, we didn't see the zebras!"  {with absolute horror and disgust in his voice}  I guess we will be making another trip to the zoo sometime.