Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo

In recent weeks Ellie has begun discussing how we're going to the zoo. I have no idea where she came up with that theory, given that we've never discussed the zoo with her. I blame that rat Elmo. Who knows what he's filling her head with when I leave him to babysit so I can shower! In recent weeks she's also been a whiny pain in the butt most times, so I thought perhaps she could use a mommy and Ellie date, like old times. Now that Adam is a little bigger and goes longer between feeds I felt like I could leave him for a few hours and not be a worried mess.

So yesterday morning we headed up to the Santa Ana Zoo, which I had heard was small but good. Good if you like monkeys, it turns out. They have a million kind of monkeys, and then we saw one camel, two anteaters, some emus and farm animals. Not really a huge selection of animals, and none of the lions that Ellie wanted to see. But you know, we had a good time. They have a little train, so we rode on that, and we wandered through the barn to talk to the farm animals (while I informed E that she didn't to stick her fingers in near the ducks) and then we rode on the carousel. They didn't have any bunnies, but they had a lot of beautifully painted animals. I tried to convince her to ride the hummingbird, but she wanted to sit in the birds nest, which turned like a Disneyland tea cup. So of course, I rode in it with her and spun it until I was sure we'd both barf. Then we ate lunch, what more could you want! They also had a nice play ground for some climbing and sliding. Having mom and Ellie time hasn't diffused Ellie's hideous whining tendencies, but it made me feel better.

Then last night we met up with friends for Dana Point's first summer concert in the park. Last year we had a hard time cobbling ourselves together, but this year we arrived with a cooler, some chairs and a blanket. Ellie, Lexi and Whitney went in a bounce house and danced like mad women, the boys ate and napped in their wraps, and the adults had a good time. It was a very full, very fun weekend. Onward to the rest of a fun summer!