Boo to "Boo at the Zoo"!

In some fit of insanity (I can't think how else to account for this) Dan and I decided to take our children (along with Sarah and her family) to "Boo at the Zoo." (Please, no comments from those of you who were smart enough to turn down the offer to come with us!) I suppose the start of this was a couple months ago when we went to the zoo (again with Sarah and crew) and Andrew complained about leaving so soon (although really, Dan had had about all he could handle) so we promised him we could come back. Sarah said something about Boo at the Zoo, and there you were. Andrew's been talking about it ever since--about wearing his elephant costume and getting his picture taken by the elephants (which didn't, as it turns out, happen).

The first stirrings of misgiving came as we turned onto the road where the zoo is located. I couldn't initially figure out why so many cars were parked on the side of the road--surely not all of this was traffic for the zoo? I thought there must be some other explanation. As we slowly climbed the hill (behind a long line of cars that, as it turns out, were similarly looking for a parking spot) the awful truth became more and more clear: nearly everyone in Salt Lake County (and a few from without) with small children (and even some couples without children--although I can't imagine why you would brave the hordes without the excuse of little ones) seemed to have turned out for the event. I suppose some of this must have had to do with the fact that it was a sunny 60 degree day in late October.

At any rate, we were on the cell phone with Sarah trying to decide whether or not to abort mission when we found (miraculously) a parking spot on the side of the road just at the edge of the zoo parking lot. We nabbed the spot (I had to get out to help Dan maneuver into the tiny spot) and made our slow way into the zoo, where we were immediately assailed by the sights and sounds of thousands of small children in a myriad of costumes. (My overwrought senses were not, however, so overwrought that I failed to appreciate the fact that at least my children were wearing unique costumes: no princesses or superheroes for us, if you please! [With apologies to those who have princesses and superheroes--I know we're only a few years out]). Here's our cute little menagerie:

However, our time at the zoo was extremely short-lived. It was immediately apparent that we would not be waiting in any lines for candy (the nearest line to the entrance was some fifty children long)--and you know how we all love lines--but more to the point, we called Sarah and found that they were in fact aborting mission because they couldn't find a place to park. (Sarah's comment about the crowds later was that the only thing that would have made this better was if Poppy were here to enjoy it with us!). So we took Andrew to see the elephant and the rhino, as promised, and then threaded our way back to the car (where some big SUV immediately lined up to take our spot--as if they could possibly fit! They were luckier than they deserved to be: the people in front of us returned to their car just as we were leaving.)

We had lunch at Red Robin instead of the proposed zoo outing--which was just as well, even if our service was pretty lousy. Afterwards, we returned to Sarah's house where Dan and Aaron watched kids while I dragged Sarah to Fashion Place mall, to visit the newly opened Janie and Jack store (the only one in Utah! Janie and Jack, for those of you who don't know, is the higher-end version of Gymboree, owned by the same parent company.) It was, of course, over-priced, but the clothes were beautiful and it was fun to look. We got home just in time to put our kids to bed (Andrew fell asleep in the car--while Evelyn was crying!).


Of course, our Saturday also began with a splash, with Andrew's second swim lesson. You can tell from the picture below that he's really loving it:


Actually, Andrew seems to really love his lessons--this momentary terrorized look was some kind of random blip (we don't really enjoy torturing our children). But it was too funny not to share. The smiling face below is much more typical of him. Evelyn and I watched for a little while, but then we had to go get gas for our trip up to SLC. Apparently, after we left, the teacher brought out some water noodles and told Dan he could tie one around Andrew's waist--and Andrew thought that his newly discovered independence was about the best thing since sliced bread.


This, I think, has to be my favorite picture of the kids from the week. I don't remember what I was doing, but I had propped Evelyn up on the bed and Andrew offered to "read" to her. Here is Andrew "reading" to Evelyn (actually, reciting one of his memorized books). So cute! I hope this is only the first of many such reading episodes.