Roo at the Zoo

We took Abby to the zoo for the first time yesterday, and a great time was had by all! Abby had been in Longview since Thursday, so Matt and I were childless for three days, and it was glorious! Don't get me wrong, we missed Abby, but how nice it was just to get up and go! We went out to dinner (and even sat in a booth! Wow. Definitely a highlight of the weekend. Ha!), caught a movie (The Hangover is hilarious, by the way!), ran errands, went to the pool, all without a schedule. And while my goal was to sleep in, I was wide awake by 8:00. Oh well. Sure wish I could sleep later like I used to back in high school. Sadly, those days are long gone!

Anyway, we went to Longview Sunday after church for Father's Day. And then on Monday morning, we all drove to Tyler to visit The Caldwell Zoo. It was relatively empty, which was nice. And Abby had a great time seeing real animals right before her eyes. Her favorites? According to her: Lion (and she'll roar for you when she says this), elephant, and Swiper. (As in the fox character from Dora). We saw a fox right before we left, and I told her that itwas Swiper. She seemed impressed at the thought of meeting such a TV superstar as himself. :)

Here are the highlights:

Family pic Heading into the zoo
She's spotted a giraffe!
It's a shame her grandfathers don't love her more. Ha! She's got those two wrapped around her little finger!!
Watching the lions sleep. In fact, many of the animals slept while we were there. After all, it was sweltering, and they were exhausted! Don't really blame them.
Halfway done, and she's already felt the need to text BFF Ellie and tell her what an exciting time she's having at the zoo. Geez. :)
Feeding the ducks and turtles with Daddy. While she thoroughly enjoyed this feeding....
...not so much with the birds. If you look at the picture, you'll notice that a bird latched onto her feed stick and wouldn't get off. This freaked Abby out to no end. Love the "Holy Cow, There's A Freakin' Bird On My Feed Stick" expression on her face. Priceless!

Ah, the Snake House. I liked this. Well, I liked it because it was air conditioned. Despite the look of happiness on her face, Abby didn't care too much for the snakes. I don't think she understood the concept of the glass acting as a barrier between them. I don't really blame her. Dora The Explorer paints snakes in a bad light, and frankly, she'll believe anything Dora tells her. :)

Oh, to be a kid again! Side note: When Matt and I take Abby out for walks around the neighborhood, we always comment on how kids have it so well--being pushed around in a stoller, supplied food and drinks. Matt jokingly commented about how it would be nice if we took the old recliner in our garage, added wheels to the bottom, put Matt in it, and let me push him around the neighborhood, cold Budweiser in hand. You know, he might be onto something...

The whole Tenner/Craddock clan.

A good time was certainly had by all!