Our Epic Christmas Adventure: Part 2

Third leg: Iowa. My sister and her husband live in IA with their two children who are very close to Abi in age and friendship. :)

We spent one day going to Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo, which is the best zoo I've ever been to (above the Bronx and San Diego zoos), and Katie and I loved it. I've decided after this case study of kids at zoos that there is a certain age where kids actually enjoy the awesomeness around them. Until that point, they are either apathetic or terrified. Here is my collected evidence:

Interested

Ecstatic

Apathetic

I'll allow it

Thrilled

Terrified

Horrified

1. Appalled and 2. Excited

Faking it for mom's sake

Completely Satisfied

But, lest you think they hated it the whole time, here is some evidence that the younger two may be coming out of the "hating the zoo" phase of their lives.

Happy

Having the time of his life!

Tickled pink

Slap-happy

Finally some genuine positive emotion

This is a great picture! At one point, we stopped to tend to the two toddlers in the strollers and when we stood up again, the oldest toddler was gone. Just plain gone! I was starting to freak out in my head wondering where to start looking for a toddler in a zoo when we finally spotted her up in the flower beds next to a building. Katie could not have dressed her better had her goal actually been making her camouflaged at the zoo... Can you spot her?

Where's the toddler?

On our way home, which is a two-hour drive, I noticed Abi making funny faces... here's the video I captured.



A great story from Iowa: our first night there, Katie and I left all three kids with Shane and went to a Zumba class at her church. When we got back, Shane says, "Oh yeah, there might be a bruise on Abi's eye..." Katie and I waited for more to the story which he was slow to give, but finally admitted, "It might also be cut..." What?!?! At this point we were dying to know what happened. I even asked if she had stitches or what? Just tell me why my child is injured! Haha! Turns out, Shane brought the kids in the house and then went back out to bring groceries in. Well, Abi was standing just inside the house at the top of the three garage stairs watching him work when her cousin who is just 11 months older than her walked by and saw the door open, so she ran up and shut it. The slamming door knocked into Abi's backside and launched her down the stairs onto the garage floor. So, as you can see in the video, she did have a cut/bruise thing over her eye, but she was no worse for the wear. And since she's ok, it's actually a pretty funny story now and still makes me giggle to think of the innocence of toddlers who don't know what injury they cause sometimes. Thanks, IA family for the fun adventures! We had a great time!