To the zoo my little pretties!

Monday morning Tim took the day off of work so we could take the kids to the zoo. We didn't tell them where we were going, but that we had a surprise for them. After breakfast Eden came downstairs wearing a white skirt with a white striped sweater tank and out of instinct I said, "you're not wearing that to the zoo!" They all chimed in together, "we're going to the zoo?!?!?" Good one, mommy. So then I try to pass it off like we weren't going to the zoo, but they aren't dummies...

We decided on the Washington Park Zoo in Michigan City as opposed to going downtown. Choosing to put 2 kids in Christian school is going to be harder than we thought, so we don't have many arms and legs these days and Chicago would have cost us a few.

The very first exhibit at this zoo is the tigers. They are huge and if you got up on the fence and stretched, you could actually touch one. They were that close. Kinda makes you test your faith in the cages they have. I found that mine wavered, completely trumping any common sense. We were in luck. The tiger didn't get anyone. However, did you all know that as tigers pace they pee? Now, they don't "tinkle" by any means. These fellas spray rather far, if you ask me. They stop, lift their tail in the air and spray a shot, much like you'd imagine a skunk doing. Because they are so close to the sidewalk, if you are in the wrong spot, you'd get it for sure. I told this to Elijah and wouldn't you know it, the tiger got to where he was, turned his backside to Elijah, lifted his tail and Elijah screamed and ran out of the way just in time. He returned to where he was standing to find wet spots by his feet. Now that was a close call. Next exhibit, please.
Micah looked like she wanted to hop right out of her stroller and climb the tiger fence with everyone else. We were hanging around here long before I found out the tiger's secret weapon!

Titus enjoyed the mountain lion. The animals are just so close to you at this zoo, one of the reasons I like it so much.

When we got to the monkeys, we watched them for a minute or so admiring how gracefully they move around, swinging from place to place. Who would have thought that you can get a lesson about God's beauty from watching monkeys?!?

Before too long it was time for a pit stop. When we got to the bathrooms, there were animal footprints on the floor and Levi didn't want to go in. Elijah posed for the picture as he knew full well that they were fake. I, however, even after having been to this zoo before and saw the funny prints, for a split second had this wave come over me like there's a mountain lion on the loose and I wonder if anyone knew it yet and where could I find someone to tell them...then I felt like an idiot and moved on. What a dork!

Satan, indeed!

We saw a sign for an observation deck and decided to go see what it was, exactly. We followed the steps around to this stone tower, and went inside. The base couldn't have been any bigger than 10' x 15' with one doorway in and then stairs. In all, there were 90 steps. The last 20 or so were a metal spiral staircase, used to save space as the building tapered off the higher it went. At the top, Titus started getting a bit nervous and wouldn't cooperate for a picture all that well, so this is the best one we could get. The view was great. If it weren't just Lake Michigan, it may have been beautiful, but Michigan City is no tropical beauty.

When we got down from the tower, I got the kids to pose for this...Eden was being so ugly. If only she knew (or cared) how ugly she looks when she has a bad attitude, she may behave herself more often. It's not entirely her fault. She was tired and she has always been the same when she's tired. She acts ugly and is plain old disobedient. Anyways, I opted to go with the goofy face shot since little miss attitude wouldn't cooperate for a regular picture.

The kids finally realized where Santa's reindeer stay when they aren't hooked to that sleigh. I always wondered myself...

Garlic, anyone???

This grizzly just looked at the kids, then looked up at me, and then back at the kids. I wonder what he was thinking? It seemed like "you bore me" or "don't bother me" as they lazily made their way from one end of the caged area to another. Ho hum.

The otters were a different vibe altogether. These little guys were spastic. There was this tube the kids sat in and the otters were all over the place in that water. You can see they swam under the tube, up the side, they sat on top...it was rather fun to watch them. I always imagine otters as eternally toddlers or something. Very fun.

Next we went to the petting area to feed the goats. I had 2 quarters to buy food from the little dispenser and was sorely disappointed to find that a quarter buys 3 pieces of food. What a jip! I suppose I understand. They don't need the goats getting over fed and all, but still. I thought it was an accident the first time I bought the food and so got my hopes up for my next quarter's booty only to have my bubble burst. Aw nuts.

We did stop for lunch somewhere in that time and ended up leaving the zoo around 2:30 to go home. First we stopped by a playground that was out by the parking lot to let the kids run loose for a bit. These monkeys aren't near as graceful, but infinitely cuter!

Mom invited us over for dinner, so we headed to Valparaiso. Poor Micah was deprived of her morning and afternoon naps, so not even 2 minutes on the road and she was out, and Levi followed suit, but everyone else seemed too excited to go to mema's to sleep. School started today, so we wanted to get the kids back on their school bedtime routine (in bed by 7:30) but as usual, we were at mom and dad's too long and didn't make it home and in bed until 8pm. Oh well, as far as back to school activity, I think these kiddos had a great time, and it was well worth the "late" bedtime!