Our latest family adventure was off to visit Grandma Debbie and go to the Zoo! Paddy loves animals and being outside, so we thought this might be a fun treat for him. Of course, the day we picked turned out to be smack dab in the middle of a high heat warning across the country. The good news is that we live in the North, so high heat for us meant 90 and not 120. It was warm, but it wasn’t humid and there were lots of shady spots and a nice breeze at the zoo. No one got too cranky in the heat and everyone avoided getting sunburnt. (And yes, I am mostly referring to myself in both cases).
This was the first outing we have taken as a family where the little man has been big enough and aware enough to protest the use of his stroller. We went back and forth between him sitting in it and Daddy carrying him for a few minutes before we discovered that he was perfectly content pushing the stroller himself. He pushed and pushed, stopping to touch a plant or look for the animals. We helped him climb on some rocks and stand on window ledges so he could see into the exhibits. My opinion is clearly biased, but I’d say he was the best behaved tot in the place.
We got to see some elephants, which are my favorite. Including a baby elephant that didn’t want to deal with the heat and was just laying in the shade of his parents. Then some penguins, which were Paddy’s favorite. The little guys would swim by the window and show him their bellies. He watched them swim around and pointed when they came near. We practically had to drag him away. As for the the Mister, of course, his favorite was the monkeys. He stood with paddy watching one of them eat grass and scratch his arm for quite a while. He probably would have stayed longer, but people started to invade his space.
For a long time for us, travelling was not an option, not even short distances. Now that it is more of a possibility for us we like to make the most of it and enjoy ourselves while we are away. This may have only been an overnight trip, but we got to stay in a nice hotel and even ordered in some late night room service.
Paddy, as always, was a superstar! He chattered on the whole trip down and kept reminding us that were were “going to soo”. He even went to sleep in the hotel with very little struggle. About 10 minutes of snuggle time with mom and he was out for the count. The Mister and I have learned to stay in suites when we can. It gives us the ability to put the little guy down for the night and still be able to hang out until it is time for the adults to go to bed.
I’ll consider it a successful trip! Paddy has reminded us a couple times of when we “went to soo” and occasionally (read:nearly every day) asks to see “pictures soo”. I am sure we will be back eventually! It is open all year, and winter visits to the zoo have been fun in the past so maybe that will be a treat for us in the coming months.
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