Zooper Day

My cousin and his wife and kids were in town from Connecticut today. I don't think I've seen them in....oh...7 or more years. Needless to say, this seemed like a good reason to arrange a vacation day and spend the day with family.

We started the day with breakfast out at First Watch. All the kids did a great job at the restaurant. I mean, Ryan did eat four packets of jelly and sip on my coffee while we waited for the food. And all four kids (ages 2, 4, 6 and - I think - 12) did end up under the table at one point. Oh! And there was the moment when Ryan ate a pat of whipped butter and looked like he had swallowed a bug. But really, breakfast was pretty uneventful.

We had a fantastic time at the zoo! That was due in no small part to how wonderful my cousin's kids are. T. and N. were so good with Wesley and Ryan. There was no bickering between the cousins and the older two, did such a nice job taking care of the younger.

We started our zoo adventure with a trip to the animal encounter area.

N. got to help hold a boa constrictor. T. held a hissing cockroach, but I didn't get a picture of that.

And what did my kids do while their cousins were interacting with all these cool animals? They were playing with rocks. Wow. Let the good times roll.

We popped into the Habitat Hollow area for a few minutes. At the end of the little house there is a plastic bed. A little girl about Ryan's age was on it and Ryan wanted to climb up too. The girl's mom said to her, "Scoot over, Honey, so that little boy can climb into the bed with you."  I'll bet that will be the only time those words come out of that mom's mouth! :-)

Here are a few other pictures from the zoo today

The little brothers of the group - Ryan and N.

All the cousins - OK, first cousins once removed. Same difference.

N., Wesley, Pepe the wooden penguin getting a kiss from T.

T. and Wesley

Wesley (or Edwin in this picture)

After putting in a full day at the zoo we all ate dinner at Grandma and Grandpa H.'s. I wish I had had my camera in my hand when it was time for us to say goodbye to T. & N.  Wesley went over and gave T. a big ol' hug. Then he turned to N. and the boys sized each other up for a moment before settling for a high five. Guess it was more comfortable than the awkward male hug.

I think Wesley summed the whole day perfectly when he said, "I like making new friends." It was super day and I hope we get to see the H. family before too many years pass again.