The Zoo

We have been trying to go to the zoo for a couple of days now and today was finally the day it worked out (well, kinda.) Of course today was the most gloomy of all days and even though it only had a 20% chance of rain it still rained (Friday was a 50% chance and guess what it didn't rain.) Oh the irony.

Anyway, I packed the lunches while Kiel packed the diaper bag (remember that for later, Melissa packed lunches, Kiel, diaper bag. Got it? Ok!) and we were out the door as soon as Bruce woke up from his morning nap.

I know Bruce is at the age where he will never remember this event but he is also at the age where his surroundings excite him. Anything new must be explored, observed and enjoyed. And even if he doesn't remember the zoo tomorrow, he had a great day today. Plus, he's a free admission ;)

For us as parents, taking our son to the zoo for the first time was more fun than when we were kids and went for the first time. I became overwhelmed with excitement when I watched Bruce become overly excited over a lizard or prairie dog. And to know that I made his day different, more interesting and gave him a new experience is by far the best day I will ever have.

When we arrived we started at the exhibits of rehabilitation. Below are animals that have been injured in someway and are now in rehab:

In the prairie dog field you can stick your head in a bubble to get a closer look:
Bruce enjoyed the animals and had his most inquisitive look on at ALL times:

I figured I fit in mostly with the cows so I might as well take a picture by cow artwork. Baby Rhyan helped me gain 9 lbs this month so the bump is significantly larger than last month.
After a brief hour of animal sightings we stopped at the picnic tables for lunch.
Bruce is really getting the hang of eating real food. He's been eating a lot actually. For lunch he had apple sauce, half a banana, and turkey. Once we were all done we decided to head to the real part of the zoo to see the elephants, giraffes, etc. but we ended up going no where.

I went to tip Bruce back in his stroller so he could drink his bottle and this foul odor wafted right up to Kiel's nostrils.

"Aw, man he totally pooped" Kiel said.
"Great" I replied, "It's going to be a big one because he didn't go yesterday."
"Oh, yeah it's all over him." Kiel observed some more. "Dude, it's up to his belly."
"Ok, did you pack a spare outfit?" Stupid question, of course he did. He ALWAYS does.
"Nope"

So I raced down to the gift shop while Kiel sat with Mr. poopy pants to see if I could find sweat outfit or pants of some sort. They had tons of t-shirts, sweat shirts and a cute zoo-keeper costume but no pants, sweats, or bottoms of any sort. Our zoo trip was over.

We went to the family bathroom because this was definitely a mess for two to clean up and wiped him down. I rinsed out his shorts in the sink and then realized we would have to stroll Bruce out in just his diaper and t-shirt. Mind you it was a cold day. All children under three had jackets and 50 blankets on top of them. I couldn't be one of the judged parents. I just pictured strolling Bruce out of the bathroom in just a diaper and all of the moms pointing with their jaws dropped open. "How dare she" they would say, "Her baby is going to get pneumonia." No way, no how was I going to be one of those. So we decided on plan B.

Bruce would wear his jacket as pants and Kiel would run as fast as he could to the parking lot before anyone would notice:
And it worked! So next time I will pack lunches and remind Kiel of all the things we need to pack while he's packing the diaper bag.

Sounds like a plan!