We had one of those homeschooling mornings where I wonder why we homeschool. The kids had stayed up too late the night before, they were crabby and fighting, and didn’t really seem like they wanted to listen. When I talked to Elora, who was doing a great job trying to be helpful in spite of everyone else bickering, I asked what she thought we should do. She thought about it and said, “Maybe we should go to the park or the zoo so we can be outside!”
So we packed up our journals, water bottles, and lunches in everyone’s backpacks and headed to the zoo! There was a bit of grumpy fighting on the way there and I really felt like their behavior did not deserve a day out at the zoo, but staying home certainly wasn’t going to help everyone get into a better mood, so we continued on our way.
Honestly, I don’t even know why I was so patient with all of them, but I am so glad I was. So often we stay home when someone is in a bad mood, which punishes all the kids (and me!), even when some of the kids are really working hard and trying their best.This time I was determined to stick it out and make our day the best possible, and hope that the grumpy ones could have at least a little bit of a nice day.
On the way to the zoo, Marion found some (very) friendly ducks, that must have been very well fed by people. It came right up to her and she giggled because it tried to chew on her back pack. The kids wanted to touch the ducks, but I asked them not to. I am pretty sure they could have!
We headed to the crocodile house first because James REALLY wanted to see the crocodile. We found this cute tortoise play area just around the side of the crocodile house. There is construction there because of the new giraffe exhibit being built, so we don’t usually go there. The kids liked this tortoise shell (though there was a bit of trouble deciding who should go in first!)
There is a little hidden path tucked away by the tortoise exhibit that led to this cute wooden snake. James was happy to play on it for a bit. I love all the little animal sculptures around the zoo. They are favorite play spots for all my kids, even the older ones.
I decided to head over to the orangutan exhibit because it is in a far corner of zoo we don’t usually go to, there is a small playground there, and it is often not too crowded. On the way we stopped to look at the beautiful lily pads growing in one of the fountains. As we turned to leave the fountain, my little guy shouted, “Mom! There is a frog!” I stopped and asked him to show me where, and sure enough, there was a frog in the fountain!
Elora tried to grab it (of course), and scared it away. She was a little disappointed not to catch it, but also because then she couldn’t see it any more. Luckily he popped up a little ways away and we all enjoyed just looking at the frog. I am so glad no one fell in the gross water.
I can’t believe I didn’t notice this little guy in there! We walked around the fountain and found a few more frogs. I have never noticed frogs here before, and it was very exciting to find them. We will definitely check out the fountains more carefully on every visit to the zoo!
There were quite a few places with photos of the animals. This spot had life size pictures of them, and other places had silly or cute pictures of the animals. Oliver enjoyed the pictures more than seeing most of the animals.
We stopped by the orangutans for awhile to write in our journals – and for my little orangutans to climb on more animal sculptures. We really enjoyed this exhibit, and Marion spent a long time looking at the orangutans so we could draw a nice picture of them together.
There is a cafe and a playground near the orangutans. Oliver pretended to be a u-bahn driver and climbed on the playground in ways that worry me a bit and lead to his little brother attempting things I wish he wouldn’t. The kids were getting hot, so we sat down to order ice cream at the little cafe. It turns out they serve meals too, and since it was late afternoon I asked the kids if they wanted to eat dinner at the cafe or at home, and of course they chose the cafe!
It was really the perfect spot to eat with kids at the zoo. The playground is right next to it, so the kids can get up and play instead of waiting at the table. The service was really quick, so we didn’t wait long for drinks or food, and the kids menu had good size meals that the kids loved. Elora was intrigued by the parsley potatoes. I told her they were really good. She was a bit nervous to try them, but after more reassurance she tried them and loved them. The kids all shared their meals so everyone could try all the items that were ordered. I got some asparagus soup and bread that was really tasty.
Marion brought a little friend to the table with her and entertained herself by letting him crawl on her arm or crawl around the ashtray. Eventually she put him back in the bushes in case he was hungry.
This little guy spent all the waiting time playing and learning new tricks and ways to climb around. He was quite proud of himself.
We found some new play areas and a hidden bird house that you could go right inside of. The kids loved it! We didn’t get to stay long because it was nearing closing time for the bird house, but we really enjoyed seeing some new animals. We also saw baby lemurs, and some baby water birds. It was an amazing day for the kids, they were so excited by all the baby animals and new hidden playgrounds they found.
We ended our day at the elephant house. When we went inside, the elephants were not there, but the zoo keepers were bringing in wheelbarrows full of food and opening a series of gates. The kids wanted to stay because they figured the elephants would come in soon, and they did! I am so glad we stayed. The kids watched the elephants all the way until the zoo closed and excitedly got out journals to write and draw pictures.
James ran about and counted the elephants multiple times, and little Oliver was so excited about the elephants he wrote two more pages in his journal and even drew little pictures. I was so impressed, he doesn’t really enjoy journal time, and today he was so excited.
The kids all declared it the best day ever, and can’t wait to come back and explore the zoo some more.
