our zoo adventure

i went to the national zoo this past sunday with my hubby and kiddies and my dad and stepmom. it was an interesting experience, and i haven't really been sure what i wanted to say about it or how to phrase things. it's not that i want to or need to be nice, because i honestly had a lovely time. it's just that i sometimes feel like i have to be overly careful what i say about my family and what we do simply because years ago i said more than i should have about them to people that really didn't need to know any of it, and of course i had to deal with the consequences of my mouth running without the aid of my brain.

and so i shall try and stick to the facts of the case.

we rode the metro into the city, because parking anywhere in a major city is usually a hassle. and because my boys are obsessed with trains. this was the perfect opportunity to let them ride not only a train, but a train that starts on an elevated platform and ends up underground. to witness the simple amazement of children over the most mundane things is wonderful.

after we got off the metro it was a ride up the longest escalator of my life (seriously, i think it was five stories up to get to street level) to walk up the street to the zoo. and i mean up the street, as in it was a hill. but eventually we made it to the zoo!

the national zoo is run by the smithsonian institute, so like all of their museums, it is free to get in. for that it's a very nice place. the whole zoo is on a hill, so we started at the top and walked through to the bottom. which seemed like a good idea until we realized that we had to go back up the hill to get out.

my only other complaint about the zoo is that there weren't many kinds of animals. the pandas are what made them famous. and there were lions and tigers and elephants. but there weren't any rhinos or hippos or giraffes. most of the little animals were in "houses," such as the small mammal house and the invertebrate house and the reptile house and the primate house. so we had to walk in tight spaces with large groups of people, which is a pain to try and push a stroller through, and even worse to try and carry a heavy baby that keeps trying to eat your hair through.

still, like i said, i had a very nice time. bumble was pretty good overall, but it was more walking than what he was used to, so he got a bit grumpy from that. and when he got hungry there were some issues till he got some real food in his belly. lumpy thought it was great, his only problem was that we weren't walking fast enough and he wanted to run ahead. fishie was in her glory, being pushed around and told how adorable she was all day.

all in all, it was a success. next time, though, i think we'll try and tackle the philadelphia zoo, because i hear they have giraffes.