The Best Day Ever

It's become an annual tradition for my stepmother, Marilyn, and I to take my neice and nephew to the zoo while everyone else spends the day at the Brickyard (save Travis, of course...Sunday's are working days for him). We began the tradition last year and had a wonderful time with the kids, so we decided to do it again. Last year, Cassidy had just turned 3 and Will was just 3 months old, so he slept for most of the visit. This year, however, at almost 15 months, he was, let's just say, a little more mobile and vocal. Originally I was supposed to watch a co-workers 2 kids as well (they're 2 and 4), and we were going to tote the whole gang, but it turned out she didn't need me to watch them. This must have been divine providence because I'm not really sure how we would have managed them all together. It was almost a tag-team effort; Marilyn took care of Will and the stroller while Cassidy and I went from exhibit to exhibit and completed her day's wish list (which consisted of riding the choo-choo train, seeing Sponge Bob in 4-D, riding a horsey, seeing the dolphin show, and riding the carousel). We completed all but the horse ride, but she was appeased when I told her we could do it when we came back next time. Note to those of you with smaller children that have not yet tried Sponge Bob in 4-D: this was a little scary for Cass and in my opinion wasn't worth the 2 tickets per person. The movie was only about 3 minutes long and you sit in virtual simulator-like chairs which shake and move pretty violently. Thankfully, a very nice older gentleman was operating the ride and turned off our chairs about a minute into the film at my request. There's also a part where a 3-D saw comes out right to your face, which frightened her. (This made think back to the my first 3-D film (the Muppets)...why can't we just have normal cartoons anymore?)

After a stop in the Zoo's gift shop and some refreshments at DQ, we were all beat. On the car ride home, Cassidy announced to us all that she'd had the best day ever...and I'd have to agree.

Ready to Go!

Will loved the Oceans Exhibit

On the Carousel