Ohio Day 4 - Dinosaurs at the Zoo

  Police cars here are hard to spot.  They are SUVs instead of cars, their coloring is different and even their lights are the wrong color.  Not that this bothers me.  As a conscientious driver I would NEVER go over the speed limit, not even a little.  

I hated to wake these sweet boys

  

Who is cuter? Sleeping boys or sleeping koala?

  After dropping James off, we drove (very slowly) to the zoo.  We got there at 9:15 but as I was getting out of the car I noticed that something was wrong.  There were a few other people in the parking lot but no one was getting out of their cars.  As we got closer to the entrance I realized my mistake: the zoo didn't open until 10:00.  We were far from our hotel and I didn't know the area so we had to just hang out until the ticket booth opened.  The sky was gray and threatening but the promised rain never arrived.  At first I was grateful but as the day got hotter I began to long for a nice torrential downpour.

At the zoo

Riding and elephant

The elephants were very interested in Charlie

Jon on a slide

 The boys were really excited to see a Trumpeter Swan at the zoo.  They decided it was Louis' mother and they were hoping to watch baby swans hatch.

Louis' mom

  Once we got in, our top priority was the dinosaur exhibit.  I know, they aren't typical zoo residents but this one had a large area that was set up with tons of animatronic dinosaurs.  The boys were in heaven.  The dinosaurs moved and roared, although sometimes they were a little loud for Will.  The exhibit also featured stations where the boys could dig for fossils which was a big hit.

Charlie says hi to a dinosaur

Jon is a little nervous

digging for fossils

My little paleontologists

  As we were walking through I ran into a fellow adoptive mom and her two boys.  We chatted for a while about our stories and kids while our boys played together.  Her oldest was three and he walked up and said "hi dinosaur!" to every one.  He, Will and Jon ran screaming from some of the dinosaurs, although it was all boyish exuberance and not fear.

  Charlie wasn't scared a bit.  In fact, he kept trying to feed and pet the dinosaurs.  It was really cute.  One pair of dinosaurs periodically sprayed water and after some initial hesitation the boys had a lot of fun with them. 

Will watches the spraying dinosaurs

Charlie jumps back from the spray

Charlie tries to feed a baby dinosaur

Charlie and the T-Rex

A little afraid to turn their backs...

  And in case you want more, here is a little video of some of the dinosaurs.  The loud squeaking is my stroller which, while still my favorite, needs a little oil. 

  The rest of the zoo was also pretty cool. We saw some primates, a shark and we spent a lot of time in a tree house with a snake slide.  We were there for hours.  Right before we left, Will and Jon had the opportunity to ride on a camel.  When I asked what they thought, Will shouted, "That was awesome!!!" and Jon said, "It was amazing!  I could do that all day!"  They were pretty happy.

Will watches a shark

Monkey family

Will heads into a snake's mouth

Charlie is swallowed by a snake

On a playground camel...

...riding a real camel!!

Finally, exhausted, we left the zoo at 1:30 and headed home. Charlie fell asleep as soon as we got in the car and he didn't wake up until 4. But Will and Jon were their normal, chatty selves.  I happen to remember a particular conversation that will give you a taste of what our drives are like.

Will: What happens when all your blood is drained out of you?

Me: Well, that's called exsanguination and when that happens you die.

Jon: You become a vampire!

Will: What happens when your blood and your brain are both gone?

Me: Well, then you die.

Will: Really die!

Jon: You become a ghost!

Will: And when we are ghosts nothing can harm us.

Jon: Except the ghostbusters.

Will: Yeah, if they saw as ghosts they would kill us right away!

  After a long nap we set out again to pick up James. And right on cue the promised thunderstorms arrived.  Once we got back we decided to stay in for the night.  Our hotel is pretty awesome. Not only do they have the thickest, most luxurious towels I have ever seen, but they also offer a free small buffet on certain evenings.  But, keeping our priorities straight, we headed to the pool first.  Once again Will practiced his swimming and Jon paddled around in his float.  Charlie too stuck to his routine of trying to drown himself.  He really, really wants to swim.  But we were able to distract him for a bit by swinging him around in the water and letting him dunk me.  

Jon in the hot tub

Will in the hot tub

  It was another fun day but I am exhausted.  I have a rather unpleasant cold and my sore throat kept me up last night.  So I am off to bed in the hopes of catching up on my sleep.

Goodnight!!