Dan has every other Friday off, and in the summer, the kids and I do as well.
Except, you know, I work for two weeks in the middle of June and Brady's taking a summer class that goes M-F. But the first Friday in June... we all had that one off.
I know my husband and I know that he cannot just sit and relax and enjoy a day off. Well, he can, but not for an entire three day weekend.
Knowing that, I planned what I thought was a great day. Morning at the zoo (we have an annual membership) followed by a picnic at the park. Not nearly as expensive as going to a movie or even to the lake (which requires a 45 minute drive and really, it hasn't been that warm anyway).
Friday morning Kiah and I got up and packed lunches in our Easy Lunchboxes. Sandwiches, pasta salad, baby carrots. A bag of clementines, 10 bottles of water.
And we were off...
Marbles the Chimp came down and spent some time communing with Kiah. Kiah says she's a chimp whisperer. I so love the chimps.
The orangs were outside. The baby just turned two. It's adorable.
I like the meerkats, too. Their group behavior is really interesting.
Only one gorilla was out. This isn't even the biggest gorilla they have. Gorillas and chimps are my favorite.
Family picture by the gorillas. Minus me, of course.
We never, ever buy anything at the gift shop. But that giraffe was just too stinking cute. I couldn't leave it in the gift shop. Giraffes are Kiah's favorite. She debated between naming it Gracie the Giraffe or Grafonda the Giraffe. She went with Gracie because she couldn't remember Grafonda. Even though she was the one who made it up. Of course if you buy one child something, you've got to buy for the other child. So Ches chose a hippo. She named it Hannah. It was a day for alliteration.
We picnicked at the park next to the zoo. They were setting up for the Gladiator Dash to be held a few days later and that was kind of interesting. Lots of obstacles. I'd say they looked fun or exciting, but they just looked scary and like something I needed to avoid.
We hiked for about 2 miles around the park (because the 4 miles we did at the zoo wasn't enough). We debated if this was just random grafitti or for the Gladiator Dash. I liked it, so I took a picture.
One last photo of the family on a dock on one of the fishing ponds.
Not a bad way to spend a day. I even added a bunch of miles to my monthly total.


