First Zoo Trip

Sadly, with all the excitement surrounding Carter's birthday,

his daddy's birthday last week was a bit less eventful.

Michael has talked about taking our kids to the zoo 

since before we even got married, so I wasn't surprised 

when he said that's what he wanted to do to celebrate his birthday.

We went early in the morning, before the crowds hit,

and while we didn't stay too long, we had a great time.

Our first stop was the carousel.

When he saw it, Carter was pretty interested.

But it was early and he was still tired.

No more pictures, Mom!

He perked up a bit once he got on the ride.

First they rode a tiger with its cub -

perfect for this birthday daddy and his son!

Carter was enamored with the little girl sitting next to him.

He couldn't take his eyes off her!

Good thing because it took a while for the ride to start.

I don't know what they were looking at,  but I love these matching expressions!

Finally it started.  Hold on, Carter!

Mommy wasn't so good with the moving shots and

Carter never saw me until they had already passed me.

Then Carter got to ride again, this time with Mommy.

We chose a snake for Carter, who was born

in the year of the snake.

Actually it had two snakes, which was interesting
because it's very possible that our future daughter
was also born in the year of the snake.

Michael did a better job with the moving pictures than I did.

After the carousel, we let Carter stretch his legs in the playground.

Dad, let go!  I'm trying to walk!

He enjoyed the water play area

and having Daddy lift him way up to peek through this opening.

He also enjoyed flirting with the "ladies".

Hey, how YOU doin'?

Wait!  Come back!

Then we were off to see some animals.

Some of them were less than exciting,

like the rhinos

and the reindeer.

Carter didn't care much about the wolves

or the turtles.

But he did like the ducks.

And this silly camel got his attention, too.

He also liked these animals that came all the way

from the other side of the enclosure just to see us.

I'm such a bad mommy that I don't even know what they're called,

so we told Carter they were horses or donkeys, I think.

Sleepyhead, ready for his nap.

Hi, new friends!

Then we went to see the giraffes, 

which turned out to be the highlight of our trip.

Look at those eyelashes.  Wow!

Carter and Daddy even got to feed one!

Carter wasn't so sure at first (not that I blame him 

- its head was as big as he is!)

But he warmed up eventually.

Then we fed Carter a snack.

The kid loves his Cheerios.

On the way out of the zoo, we stopped and saw the elephants.

Carter was less than pleased with his view from the stroller,

so Daddy was happy to oblige.

Bye-bye, elephant!

It was a wonderful first trip to the zoo for Carter

and I was thrilled to spend the day with BOTH 

of my Birthday Boys!