Everything Elsea: Lions and tigers and T-Rexes, oh my!

We made it to the zoo on Friday! The flu shot pit stop took 4 times longer than anticipated (yeah, I know, even a clinic takes longer than 15 minutes), but we were at the zoo by 11:00 and happy they took the picture of my membership card since I left mine at home in an attempt to make my wallet smaller for the day. So I called the zoo office and they send to have a photo so C went home to take the photo because I had both cards in my purse, and the zoo just scanned that photo all day whenever it was needed.

First pit stop at the zoo was the Dinosaur Island ride which was closing for the year. Some how I had never been on this with the kids.

This was the highlight of my trip. I love a good dam.

The kids were great at identifying the different dinosaurs. Turns out watching tv does teach you some stuff. Thanks, Dino Dina!

Dex's first trip. Not too sure.

We ran into Monkey's friends from Kindergarten!

And his second trip. Definitely not a fan. This was before he ended up in my lap covered in a blanket with the tag pushed up against his face (his choice of comfort).

Hey, Mommy! Take my picture but I will not look at you while you take it!

Forget getting their pictures with actual live animals, the kids stop at every.single.one of these and ask to have their photo taken.

A rainbow tiger spotted in the wild.

Not one to have his face painted, GMac went with tattoos.

Would you look at that? Actual animals!

We ended the trip with a 4D movie that was a bit scary for the kids, but the perfect thing to put Dex to sleep for a long overdue nap.

After the zoo, while we waited on C to join us for dinner, I decided, against my better judgment, to take the kids to Costco. I'm proud of myself to have made it through the entire day at the zoo solo without once being overwhelmed or having a panic attack. I can't say it went as well at Costco. It may have been the enclosed space with all the people, or maybe the fact I was pulling a cart while pushing a stroller after a certain seven year old of mine was adamant she could push the stroller the entire time, "oh! and can she have this and can GMac have that?"

After all that, I really could've benefited form this weighted blanket and have now put it on my Christmas list.

We finally met up with C who apparently took the kids to the Lego Discovery Center while I went bra shopping, because I found this while trying to decide what zoo photos to share.