Perfect day for the zoo

Saturday was absolutely gorgeous. Blue skies with temperatures in the mid-70s in the morning. I decided to get us out of the house early (well, early for us) and go to the zoo before it got too crowded...and too hot.

Zoo Drive was backed up past the freeway, I couldn't figure out what the problem was until I saw the entire parking lot closed up. They were resurfacing the main parking lot. Lame. So we had to park in the far lots and walk across. Fine for me, but the kids weren't too thrilled. Good thing I had the promise of kettle corn to get them moving.

The line to buy tickets was longer than I'd ever seen it, so apparently everyone had the same idea for the day. Fortunately, we have a membership, so we went straight to the gate. Even though I had the double stroller, I only let Helene sit in it because I had no desire to listen to the complaints from the older ones about who got to sit and who had to walk. They both needed to walk and wear themselves out with all the sleep issues we've had.

We took our usual route and hit the kettle corn stand first. It keeps mouths full (instead of complaining) and provides some much needed bribing material at times.

Helene kept trying to get help herself to a handful.

If she could just figure out how the get the bag opened...

Inside one of the habitats for the monkeys.
I just LOVE Hannah's face in this picture!

These Gerenuks are such petite and graceful
animals, I always have to stop and see them.

And Hannah always loves to check out all the telescopes

Many of the exhibits were closed...looks like there is a lot of remodeling going on, so we headed over to the playground before it got too hot. It was already getting noticeably more crowded.

This was Helene's first time actually playing and she just couldn't get enough!

Silly face

And I just love that Hannah took my camera and got a picture of me doing this.

I love my Droid...what can I say?

We left around 1pm--just in time for the 85+ degree weather to really hit and the crowds to flourish. Excellent timing going early! We finished off the day with lunch at In-N-Out for the girls and Taco Bell for Sammy (no big surprise there). Great Saturday outing.