The ZOO!!!!!

Okay, we love the zoo. I usually take the kids on Fridays because Jeremiah doesn't have school, which makes the day less crazy, and because the weekends are packed with families having family time and educational experiences. :) The Phoenix Zoo is only about 15 minutes away (I have to estimate--I'm not sure how far away it is without kids in the car!), and it's huge, and was voted the best zoo for children in the United States. We love it. Here are some pictures from this morning!

I tend to let the kids out of the stroller just a couple times to look at animals (I do it until they don't want to climb back in), so mostly we see the elephants, tortoises, and birds. :) Two elephants were out today--very exciting!


I did try to get a picture with three kids smiling, but this was the best I got. And then, after many tries, I got a picture to them making "scary faces".... Aaahhh! Notice Jeremiah's claws and scary eyes, and Danielle's, um, scary smile? These pictures were taken in front of the Galapagos Tortoise exhibit. As we were leaving, Isaac told me he wanted to ask the Glap-ghost Tortoise a question. "Glap-host Tortoise, do you like to eat lettuce?"





Then we went to Discovery Farm, which, if you have toddlers, is a life-size version of Fisher Price's "Discovery Farm." Very fun! A big red barn to play in, Farmer Bob, Fisher-Price animals to climb on and pet, a kid-sized tractor to stand in and drive, and a slide! All appropriate for 1 1/2 to 5 year olds! Perfect.





On our way to the petting zoo (an entire 20 yards), we needed to stop and climb on and explore the tractors.





Unfortunately, I couldn't get pictures of the kids while we were IN the petting zoo. I was a little more occupied with keeping track of three kids and what they were doing to and with the goats. Isaac enjoyed using the brush to brush one little goat who was lying down for a minute, and touched them gently. Danielle was very cautious and perhaps a tiny bit terrified. Jeremiah absolutely loved playing with the goats! He'd just walk right up to them and look at them and pat them fairly gently, he came over to one who was lying down and laid on his tummy in front of the goat and just looked at him and talked to him. He was easily the most comfortable child there. He just loves animals. This is the goat we spent the most time with today (and a corner of Danielle's pink coat--it was cold when we left--about 60 degrees).


Next up was Harmony Farm, a mini-farm with a vegetable garden, farm animals, and lots of things for kids to do! The boys loved riding "horses." Danielle wasn't so sure--I think she was a tad small for these horses.



Everywhere we walked around in the children's area, there were little things for them to do to wiggle and be more involved with learning. Here we learned about bugs. Important for decomposition and fertilization, as we were next to the vegetable gardens.






As I was attempting to get us out of the zoo (hard with so many distractions), Isaac really really really really wanted to climb this tree stump. It's really big and very fun to climb! So of course, Jeremiah wanted to climb too. (I told Danielle NO. She's still too little.)




Have I mentioned...We LOVE the Zoo?!