Zoo-phoria

We took the day off today to take the kids to the zoo and we had a fantastic outing!  The weather was perfect: sunny, but not too hot.  The kids were both on their best behavior.  And the animals even cooperated and all came out of their cages/dens/caves/etc. to entertain us!  Amita walked for almost the entire trip and she still had enough energy to go to the library with me later today!  Ansel had a good time overall, but had a scary fall while we were having lunch.  Thankfully he was only surprised, not hurt and his love of food and some hugs and kisses quickly helped him feel better.

Let's let the pictures tell the rest of the story!

Amita was thrilled that they had tiger and "zree-bra" chairs.  She picked the tiger...

... so naturally Ansel wanted the zebra one!

 Amita was really excited for the giraffes.  We got to see four of them out and about.

Ansel really liked them too!

The elephants were moving around a lot and came really close to us!  Amita liked it when they threw dirt with their trunks.

Here's my two big guys looking small compared to the elephants!

The Dall Sheep (aka big horn sheep) were very popular as well.  We watched them climb all the way to the top of their "mountain".

Even the bears were out today.  They weren't overly active, but we got to see them napping in all sorts of funny places: on rocks, in a hammock, even in caves!

Here we are during our picnic lunch.  The zoo wasn't too crowded and we got a great table in the shade.  Ansel also had a great view of the squirrel who was hoping for some dropped snacks (Ansel kept blowing him kisses!).

Everyone was excited with the goodies Mama packed!

I'd never seen a peacock with it's tail feathers completely showcased before.  It's very impressive!  No wonder that gets the lady birds!!

And last in the alphabet and in our photo montage, the zebra.  He stood around while some of the alpacas (which Amita called Llama Llama!) splashed in a pond.

May the Fourth Be With You

We had a wonderful fourth of July holiday, although it was a bit of a whirlwind!  On the 3rd, Aaron's company had a celebration downtown at Summerfest, so we got to catch up with old friends, see the Summerfest sights and enjoy a spectacular fireworks display (around 50 mins long for those timing it!).

We were out past our normal bedtime, which made getting up the next morning to head out to a parade a bit more challenging.  But we've been going to this parade since Amita was born and we didn't want to stop now.  We managed to get there early enough to get some good spots right on the sidewalk at the start of the parade route.  Amita had tons of fun watching all the floats and bands and of course, picking up candy!  Ansel sat in the wagon with me a little away from the action and he played with some toys.  I was relieved he wanted to stay in the wagon, so we didn't have to run all over to try to keep him out of the parade.

After the parade was over, Aaron and I had to change clothes and head to a wedding.  Then it was time to race back home to grill out some food for the kids and Nana and Papa before heading back to the wedding reception (don't worry... we didn't have 2 dinners!).  Then we left the reception just before sundown to get home and watch fireworks on our back porch with Amita, who we let stay up for the first time ever.  She really liked the colors of the fireworks, but not the noise.  Overall, a fantastic end to a fantastic day!!

Here we are at the parade before it got started.  Ansel was very curious and didn't want to sit still!

Here's my two guys in their car shirts!

Amita liked her fireworks "tank tok".

Both kids loved the marching bands.  Maybe we'll get to see them on a college football field someday!!

Here's the kids after the parade.  They were more than ready for the free ride in the wagon back to the car.

All I wanted was the kids to sit or stand together so I could take a picture.  Here's what I got instead.  One went in one direction...

...and one went in another!