Lions and Tigers and Boys, Oh My!

My sister-in-law and I decided to take the boys to the zoo yesterday. We arrived bright and early to beat the crowds and the sun, both of which we were pretty successful. I think if either of us has a girl one day, it's going to be a whole new ballgame (or tea party), but for today, it was fun watching boys be boys.

We had several interesting conversations with the boys or should I say boy since Ayden is the only one of the three speaking something more than baby sounds or calls of the wild. The first conversation went something like this.

Me: Ayden what do you think we'll see today?
Ayden: Animals
Me: What kind of animals?
A: Birds and bears
Me: Do you think we'll see any dogs?
A: No. Dogs don't live at the zoo.
Me: Where do they live?
A: At houses
Me: But people live at houses
A: So do dogs, but they are not people, except for Toni (my mother-in-law's dog).
Me: Oh, really..... Why is Toni a person?
A: Because she eats people food.

To a four-year-old that makes sense. We saw lots of animals, but didn't get very many pictures of them, mainly because we were taking pictures of the boys. However, to our amusement, we did see a couple of dogs. Meet Max. He's the elephant's guard dog and companion.

We decided to put the two older boys together in a double stroller. We all thought it was a great idea, well that is except for Ayden. It fit the boys and all of our stuff, but Ayden didn't appreciate Gavin's loving attempt to pat older cousin on the head, repeatedly. We have to give him credit, he was patient. He just very matter-of-factly said that Gavin needed his own stroller.

Needless to say, Ayden didn't get his way, but they seemed to come to terms with being stroller buddies. If this picture could have a caption, it would be, "My, what big eyes you have!"

Not to be left out, here's a picture of trooper sister-in-law and the cuddly Logan. He slept and ate in his little pouch, content as could be.

The trip wasn't complete without visiting the Children's portion of the zoo. The two older boys played on the playground. Gavin basically crawled over this little slide thing most of the time.

We had a great time with plans to go again soon. Tip: Buy a zoo membership. It more than pays for itself in just three trips.