Zoo Fun & Team Work

Moving has made us grossly aware of how much junk we have accumulated in the four years we have lived in our house.  On account of that and the fact that our kids would rather follow me around all day than play with toys, we have decided not to give any toys for birthdays this year.  Books are fine.  Movies are fine.  But no toys.  This year we are giving the gift of experiences.  Brisbane loves the zoo and so we decided that in honor of his birthday, we would go to the zoo one last time before moving.

To be honest, I prepared for this one day zoo trip as if I would be attending Disneyland.  Five kids at the zoo seemed like a big task and so I wanted to be ready.  I mapped out our day.  What we would do in what order.  When and where we were going to stop so that I could nurse.  When and where we were going to eat.  And on and on.  We planned on being there the whole day and seeing as much as we could.  We didn't think we would make it through the whole thing and that was ok.

So off we went with our two double strollers and five kids.

And the whole thing went off really really well.  The kids were awesome!  Della and Miriam slept almost the entire time and when they were awake they were content to ride in their seats.  Whew!  I had visions of screaming twins and toddlers running amok.

Mack had never been down the Children's Trail and was pleasantly surprised at the farm animals, playground, and giant tractors.

Farmer Reese

Farmer Jessenia

Farmer Brisbane

 Man, those tractors were competitive.  Lots of unsupervised kids that were not waiting their turns for tractors and were sitting on them entirely too long.  I had to assert myself to make sure each of my kids got their ten second turn!

 Then we milked cows.  Let's just say that if this was our standard way of getting milk there would not be a lot of milk consumption at our house.

 But they were really cute trying.  (Don't we love Jessenia's outfit!?  I think it's adorable.  Doesn't quite match.  Maybe not totally activity appropriate.  But completely cute!)

I challenged Mack to make sure I was in a picture with the kids on this trip.  We didn't get the camera out a lot but he did manage to get this one gem.  I love it.
The highlight of the day may have been when I chose a spot to breastfeed right along the trail that the train drives by.  At this point in the train ride the passengers are supposed to be looking at the mountain goats on the hills behind me.  Said mountain goats were nowhere to be seen so instead I got three train loads of people staring at the "nursing mother on the left".  (It takes a long time to nurse twins.)  At this same stop Brisbane decided that he needed to go potty and we were far far away from the nearest restroom.  So Mack ran him down the hill while I nursed and tried to keep the oldest two occupied and the youngest two from screaming.  Good times.
At the end of the day we had seen the entire zoo with time to spare.  It was ridiculously expensive and we had more treats than should be allowed.  But Brisbane loved his birthday present and got to see all of the animals he wanted.  Except for the seals.  He informed me halfway through the zoo that he wanted to see seals.  Unfortunately the Phoenix Zoo is not home to any seals.
When we got home, sunburned and tired, Mack said to me, "Honestly, I was completely dreading that. But it was fun!"  We high-fived on the way out of the zoo.  It is amazing what you can accomplish when you are an awesome team.  And our family is a mighty good team!