Spontaneous Zoo Trip for 3!

On Monday I was all mentally geared up to take the kids to Costco. At 8:30 am I suddenly veered and decided the kids and I were going to go to the zoo. It was such a beautiful morning and we have this zoo pass, and me working two jobs means I have less freedom and flexibility, so why not!

Dave helped me pack a lunch and we speedily packed up and headed out. We got there at about 9:15. It was a really lovely day. It was actually kind of nice going with just the three of us. We could go at our own speed, I didn't have to worry about tantrums, I could follow the kids' lead, etc. I even bought tickets for a train ride before we had to leave!  

Look at me being all flexible and cool... (so not cool for having to try this hard to be flexible, but whatever, it's still a win).

Dom rode his bike almost the whole time. I was impressed! He did really really well, and didn't complain once. 

Stopped for a snack almost immediately after getting there. Love having a snack while watching giraffes walk around.

We meandered over towards the black bears, where we always stop to have lunch. On our approach, I noticed the cougars were moved, and there were three baby grizzly bears in their place! Apparently they're very new to the zoo, and came from Alberta. Someone supposedly shot their mother... so sad. They appeared super happy and playful though, which was nice. 

I guess since they're so new, the three black bears in the neighbouring enclosure aren't quite used to them yet. They were all checking each other out, and then this black bear bluff charged the fence. You tell 'em!

(Fun fact: the black bears are named Basil, Rosemary & Thyme)

Here's Shadow, the big grizzly. She was staring off through the fence like this for so long. Poor girl looking pretty pathetic.

The kangaroos were feeding, so we actually got to see them for once. 

After going all the way around the zoo (except down by the zebras and camels because that's no-mans-land), we walked to the train station and playground. 

They played for half an hour on these structures so nicely. Emilia's at a great age right now, where if they're not fighting, they're able to communicate and pretend and play like besties.

All about the slides that day!

I could think of worse things to be doing than sitting in the sun at a playground!

They both even went down the swirly slide! This is the first time Dom has ever wanted to do that, and the first time Emilia has at all. They did it multiple times. <3

And yes, Dom EVEN braved this big snake slide! Quite the climb for a 3-year-old to get up there, and then was excited to go down. I couldn't believe it! Emilia tried really hard, but she wasn't quite tall enough to climb the inside of the structure. Maybe next time little adventurous one!

Waiting our turn for the train

Dom pretending to not be super duper excited

Dom no longer pretending not to be excited. He loved it so much. We'd already seen all the animals, but he was stoked about the tunnel, the bridge, the steam coming from the train, and the "engineer" driving the train. Love that he's less anxious about "new" things and is able to be brave and enjoy them!