Spring Break...Day Number 3

OK, Monday was Strawberry picking and playing at Gibson Pond Park. Tuesday we got to take our neighbor to her doctor's appointment:) and watch a movie in the afternoon at home. Wednesday was another big day...we went to the zoo. Since we just got our membership renewed we thought it would be fun to go-and we had to pick up our membership card at the zoo. So we met some friends from church, Leigh and her boys Luke and Colt and Holly and her 2 year old daughter, Ross. Holly has her own blog, "The Life as a Thrifter" blog. Holly is one amazing lady. So crafty, so thrifty and an awesome mom. I have to say, Ross is one of the most adorable little girls I have ever seen (besides Riley, of course). 

Joel was the official photographer at the zoo today. He took some very good pictures. Here are the Kangaroo's hanging out in the grass and enjoying a beautiful day in South Carolina.

The elephants were all hanging out in one spot. And one of them was really close. The kids were so excited to see them up close. I mean, we could see the eyelashes of the elephants:)

They just opened this new exhibit called "Sky High Safari". Joel was dying to do it but we had to say no this time. There were so many people there and the line was pretty long too AND of course it cost more money and I didn't bring my wallet. So we walked passed it and walked to the giraffes. That is always fun because they got to feed them.

This is Holly and Ross. They are both so cute. Ross is such a girly-girl...very cute:)

We had to get a group picture (minus Joel).

And then of course when we got to the barn, everybody had to milk the cow again. I think its so funny how this wooden cut-out always is the BIG hit for our kids at the zoo:) and evidently Leigh's kids too:)

Leigh also has a pass to get the free train rides. So the kids had a blast with that. Of course Josiah and Luke got into one car. Colt went into another one. And Riley, Jesse and Ross stock together in another car. Riley was the "care taker" of Ross. She did an awesome job. She is going to be a wonderful mommy one day.

Finally, while the little kids were playing on the playground, the big kids (Joel, Riley and Jesse) got to climb the "wall". Joel loves doing this. I think he got up that wall in about 30 seconds. And then slid down even faster.

Both Riley and Jesse are good at it too. They are just not very excited about going all the way to the top. So they stayed pretty close to the ground. But they still had fun:)

Another Group picture (with Joel but without Ross). Although Joel got kicked in the head by JoJo. (This is the reason for Joel's funny face).

We (Leigh and I) were ready to go home but the kids really wanted to go see the pinguins and the snake and fish aquarium. There were SO many people there. And if you have been to this zoo, you know what I'm talking about. These rooms are crazy. So we told the kids to grab a buddy and stay with them. Jesse got Colt (which worked awesome!!! They have the same personallity.

Riley and Luke were partners. Evidently loves girls:) so that was the perfect match too. And Riley likes to be the "mommy" so that worked for her too. She would take him to the different exibits and read that the little plaques said. I think she will be a great teacher one day:)

And then Joel had Josiah. Those two have become pretty close over the past few months. Joel is very protective of his little brother. Its really nice to see.

I had to include this picture..although you can't see it as good. Its a snake with a VERY big belly. I think they must have fed him earlier that morning and we are thinking it might have been a bunny or something like that.

And Finally... the picture I ALWAYS have to take when we are at the zoo. The kids standing befind the fish tank and pretending to be swimming with the fishes. I think the first time Terry did this, was BEFORE Joel was born. He would do it when we were at the zoo with Christopher and Emily.

 I'm so glad we have memories like this:)

Rogers Zoo Trip

What a great day we had today. We were supposed to go to the zoo with my parents on Thursday but we woke up to a very soggy day. So we had to postpone our trip. So this morning we woke up to a sunny day and decided today would be a good day to go before daddy has to go back to work and the kids go back to school. So we met my parents at the gate and were ready for some FUN!. They actually were not able to stay long because they are trying to get ready for their trip to Canada in October and have some shopping to do. So they left and we went on. I have to say, it was hot but not as hot as it usually is in August here in Good Old Columbia, SC.
And I think the animals liked it too. A lot of them were walking around and doing stuff animals do. The brown bears were playing together; the elephants were walking around and the big tortoises were also on the move. They even got to touch a real snake. There was a zoo keeper in front of the "aquarium" holding some kind of snake and they all got to touch it. Even Josiah did it. The kids had a blast, especially Josiah. He especially liked the penguins. He was walking around saying "Penguins, just like my Penguin". (Daddy and Josiah have a game they play right before bed where Terry throws the Penguin to Josiah in his bed and Josiah throws it back. They have a blast playing that game). I think the kids sat on every statue there is in the zoo (as you can tell in the pictures). After about 2 1/2 hours of walking around the zoo we decided it was time to go. (I think we pretty much saw everything anyway). Mom & Dad had given us some money to take the kids out to lunch. We were going to go to CICI's pizza in Irmo but when we got there, I think two daycare buses were unloading and we really did not want to deal with that. So we drove around Irmo a little while to see where we wanted to go and ended up driving back to Lexington and eat at Carolina Wings. The kids loved that because there were TVs every where. The nice thing was, we missed lunch hour so it was nice and quiet. The kids enjoyed their food. I did too, but I think I like D's Wings better.
Thanks again Opa & Oma for a nice day. Maybe next time you guys can go with us:)
Enjoy the pictures everyone.