Brad and I have been talking a lot about just doing some of the family fun ideas we've been putting off because of excuses (time, money, Brendan/Megan/Emily being too small, etc.) and just jumping in and doing them. One of the things we've liked to do for the past couple years is take the kids to Watertown, SD, to the zoo. We usually pick a warm, end-of-summer day and we pack a picnic lunch, enjoy the zoo, and head back home. Since we enjoyed our end-of-summer warm days in the cities this year, we decided to just make a family weekend of it, with no excuses. So we did! The weather wasn't the best and we had to eat our picnic in the car, but here's a secret...it just didn't matter! It's so easy for me to get wrapped up in trying to make these experiences perfect for the kids and Brad that I lose sight of the fact that it's about the experience as a family that's the most important.
So, we headed to the zoo (all bundled in our winter gear), ate our picnic lunch together in the car, checked out all of the zoo animals and birds, fed the farm animals, and headed to a hotel for the night. We swam, had a pizza party together, swam some more, put three exhausted kids to bed, got a good night's sleep (can you believe it?!), had breakfast, swam some MORE, and bought Megan a new pair of shoes on the way home. And to top all this fun off...nobody got sick! You couldn't ask for more from a fun-filled, family weekend!
This aquarium was filled with young turtles, and Emily loved watching them swimming and climbing over each other.
One of their White Siberian Tigers.
Megan and Brendan.
Photo op!
The buffalo were running around in their enclosure and I couldn't figure out why. It turns out they were just trying to keep warm too!
Emily, riding the pretend milking cow.
Look at that guy. He's such an amazing dad.
I was blown away by the wolves this time. We've been to the zoo 5-6 times and have never seen the wolves out. I wasn't paying much attention when we got to this area, and when I turned around to check on Megan and Brendan, this is what I saw. This wolf stood there, paying attention to Megan and Brendan for about 30 seconds (which seemed like a long time!) before running back to join the pack. I was filled with awe.
The wolf pack.
Pizza party!
Emily enjoyed her pizza too. The best part about it was that we were all really hungry, so we ate our fill of the veggies we brought before the pizza arrived. (A little less mommy guilt!)
Emily did fantastic in the water. She loved the commotion of the kids in the pool, she practiced her kicking, and she enjoyed dipping her feet in the hot tub.
The best part about this hotel was the froggy tongue water slide!
Ahhhh...the hot tub!
Brad and I enjoyed a quick secret date night after the kids went to bed. We ordered some spinach artichoke dip from the restaurant downstairs, opened a bottle of Honeycrisp Apple Shock Top, and just enjoyed some time together (complete with a game of Who's Smarter Than A 5th Grader?)
Our last time swimming.
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