A trip to the National Zoo

We started November off with a trip to the National Zoo with Laura's crew, Stephen and Grandma. George was working as was Tyler, so it was just the moms and Stephen who was an excellent sport and a big help.

I'm embarrassed to say I've never been to the National Zoo. Grandmom and Pop Pop took Jude, Cole, and Lily while George and I were in San Diego this past summer, but that's all the claim our family has on this attraction.

This little girl was amazing the whole time. She's content to watch from her seat and flash smiles at anyone who looks at her.

Lance is such a good big brother to Lily and Lexi. I don't know how I would survive without him.

Mason and Jude were thick as thieves the whole time and were inseparable.

Lions!

Cole is still in his Dumbo-loving phase and insisted that Dumbo needed to come to the zoo as well.

This photo makes me laugh! The sign is super sad, but you wouldn't know by looking at Cole's face.

Still checking out the lions. I think we watched for a good half hour before moving on.

The Ape house!

The orangutans had platforms across the zoo and were able to climb from one place to another right over our heads. It was pretty awesome to see.

Love this crazy sassafras of mine.

Next stop: Reptile House!

And we had to see the elephants! They were inside today. It was neat to see them play and interact with each other.

Cole was especially excited to see real live elephants.

Our attempts at a group shot:

Pretty close!

These tortises were HUGE!

Stephen was awesome!

Panda!

Our last stop was the merri-go-round. Each kid picked which animal they wanted to ride:

Cole thought this hummingbird was a parrot.

Grant on a gator.

Jude picked a leopard.

Mason's a cheetah!

It was a perfect day! The kids had fun, the adults survived, and we got to spend some quality time with cousins and Grandma.

Perfect!