Emmy's 1st Trip to the Zoo

By special request, Megan wanted to celebrate her [34th] birthday with a trip to the zoo. Her birthday fell on a Saturday this year, so it was the perfect activity for our crew of 9. After going to the Dallas Aquarium just a few days ago, I knew Em would likewise enjoy the NC Zoo. With all the colors and movement, our curious little girl would have lots to look at! We met up with the Houstons, Grammy and Grandpa around 8AM, and our caravan pulled in to Asheboro just after 9AM, when the zoo opened. The zoo has two sections, broken up into continents: Africa and North America, with all the different animals and wildlife for each. Boomer recently went to the zoo with a group from his school, so he was a great tour guide as we first took the tram to Africa, navigated through that continent, then had lunch at the Junction, and finished by walking through North America. We got to see a lot of animals: giraffes, elephants, baboons, gorillas, alligators, snakes, otters, and fish. The boys even got to play at the play area and put their feet in the 'stream.' Em had a lot of fun riding in the stroller with her cousins. She took a short nap on the way to the zoo and also in the afternoon, but mostly she was awake and taking it all in. There were some funny moments throughout the day, like when we unloaded for the tram and were ripping kids out of the stroller, and also when Mom got the attention of the entire food court to sing 'Happy Birthday' to Aunt Megan. It's a bit of a circus with this group...or perhaps, I should say a zoo! :)

 

Grammy and Grandpa were troopers: Grammy was generally holding a child or a bag throughout the entire day, and Grandpa manned the [loaded-down, very heavy] stroller. The picture above is just after we exited, and I suppose it is a good sign that they are still smiling! While at the zoo, Zander and I recreated a picture we took two years ago. The picture on the left is from 2015, and the picture on the right is from 2017. By coincidence, Maddox wore the same shirt that Z has on in the first picture. The years are going by so fast, and these photos are a reminder of that!

By another request of the birthday girl, we ended our fun day with dinner at a Japanese steakhouse in High Point, called Fire and Sticks. We were probably quite a sight rolling up into the restaurant, hot and sweaty from our day at the zoo; but the food was yummy, and our chef kept the kiddos entertained so the adults could enjoy their meals. We were all a little pooped, and everyone was home by 6:30PM for bedtimes.  

Here is just one more photo from our weekend. On Friday night, we had dinner with our friends Jared and Ashley and their little boy, Harrison. Harrison will be a big brother soon, and he was so sweet to Em. We tried out his jump-a-roo, which will soon be used by his little brother, Griffin. It was no surprise that our little jumping bean liked it!