A FREE zoo visit....and a FREE Dollywood visit!

Because I work with awesome people, one of them invited us to the zoo with her FREE passes and despite (because of?) the 100% chance of rain, we went and had such a fun time!

*Contrary to Max's face, we did have a fun time. 

One thing I will miss SO much about the toddler stage is the little hands pressed against stuff that they want to look at-curiosity just pressed in the little palms. Max LOVED all of the animals; he was so excited about everything. Because there were very few people there (thank you, rain forecast), I let him just run around with the big kids and he thought he was at least 7 years old. He told everyone who would listen about all of the animals that he saw. His favorite were the monkeys. "They were swinging!" he would say. 

Anderson & Adeline are so funny together. I love little kid conversations. 

The rain proved to be a nice win for Max. He was soaking wet by the time we made it to the first animal because he basically rolled in every puddle that he could find. He was in heaven. 

During one rainfall moment, we took refuge under the penguin overhang. It happened to be the "Zookeeper Info" time and we were the only ones there so we got a private lesson on the penguins and I will never look at them the same again. 

What I learned:

-There are 18 types of penguins and only 3 are cold weather (I can't remember those exact numbers....this was a few weeks ago)

-Penguins in the wild mate for life, but in captivity, they are sort of forced together, so they will leave their "spouse" for someone better! This happened to one of the girls and she was so devastated that her husband picked a new girl penguin that she refused to eat. She had to be hand fed and she now will fake sadness to get the good fish. 

-The oldest penguin is 37 and has really bad arthritis. Her husband brings her fish and little things to decorate their nest. 

-"There is so much penguin drama. We don't even get to eat lunch because of all of the drama we are dealing with all day."-When the zookeeper said this, I totally sympathized with her. High school=zoo.

I love them now. Especially the little old man penguin scavenging pieces of zookeeper's shoelaces for his wife. 

They were still in church clothes because we went straight from church! We had canceled our plans due to the rain, but we decided to go anyway because a free zoo trip cannot be stopped by the weather. I did not want to drive back home, so we ran into Kroger for some snacks and were on our way!

A few weekends later, Mom gave us her free tickets to Dollywood and we actually* had an amazing time. 

*I say actually because we have 5 kids now and were not entirely anticipating an amazing time. Because we are desperate to get out of the house we took them all-one of who was in a boot with a fractured ankle, one of whom was 6 weeks old and one of whom is Max, in general. But, it honestly was probably our best trip yet. The kids were so good and we really had a blast. 

But, check out that baby boy in his VFL attire! Seriously, Nicole is a rock star because she is not the kind of person who just has 3 kids (that is a rock star in itself), but she takes them to Dollywood! 

Anderson found a spider to start the trip off right. He loves a captive audience. 

Max refused to do any rides without me, which surprised nobody. The kid was HYSTERICAL when we tried to put him with Anderson on the pigs. When the ride has to be stopped because your kid is falling out to get to you is the moment when you know your child might be high maintenance. 

These 2 love each other so much when they have space to not be together too much. The love is intense and it needs a little breathing room. 

Baby Levi might have been the hit of the entire day. 

My mom is the epitome of trooper because she not only attends these events with us, but she SUGGESTS them...and drives, and gives us free tickets!

The boys found their water. This was moments before First Aid had to be called because Max's nose was gushing blood after a run in with another kid (who happened to be the son of a co-worker and probably the only other kid we knew out of the 8000 people there.) Seriously, lots of blood. I looked like a victim of a massacre after I picked him up. The hardest part was trying to get him to lay flat because he kept asking, "I go play in water, again?" The ONLY way I could get him to sit still was by taking about the train because we could hear it all over the park. 

I was not with them at the last visit when First Aid had to be called-"The visit of the Broken Bones," but I did hear quite a bit about it, so this incident report seemed much less stressful. The First Aid people were so nice and kept trying to wipe the blood off, which just resulted in screaming until I lied and told Max that they were the train conductors.

Reesie Piece herself. 

She is really this cute in person. Maybe even cuter. 

In a pinch, a sippy cup will serve as a tadpole transporter. 

Two of them made it home with us and Anderson was pumped. I am really hoping I can keep them alive for at least a few days, but with my track record, I am not really counting on it.

Truly, I love nothing more than my togetherness with these guys (and Brandon, of course.)

Ferg insisted on holding my hand on the way home and finally fell asleep (lots of traffic.) I love, love his "resting angry face" as we call it. The kid is not going to fake excitement for you. But, when he is excited, it is the real deal. 

I love all day adventures!