Fun at the Zoo

This past Friday, we took a family trip to the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, Texas. I've been thinking about taking the kids to the zoo for a while but I wanted to wait until school had started (so hopefully it wouldn't be too busy) and I wanted to wait until the weather was nice and cool. Steven is off on Fridays so I had to find a Friday when we didn't have anything going on. A couple of days before the trip (I'm calling it a trip because Tyler is 2 hours away) I started rethinking this whole zoo outing idea. I figured the kids would love it, especially Brady, but I dreaded being in the Seals Mobile (aka our 12 passenger van) for that long. But I can't let the fear and dread of long trips, packing up all the feeding tube supplies, and the kids having meltdowns keep us from getting out and exposing the kids to new things and having fun as a family. Plus, the quints get in free until they turn 2, so this was the cheapest time to go.

We had a great experience and all the kids behaved wonderfully. The zoo is not too big so we made it around to see everything in about 2 hours. It turned out to be warmer than I expected, but it was a beautiful and pleasant day. I was relieved that we didn't hear any rude comments about our crew. I just-so-happened to wear my Yes my hands are full, But so is my Heart shirt and I think it kept all the crazy comments away.  ;)

Seals on Wheels (aka our 6 seater stroller)
Can you tell I love making up silly names for everything?!?  ;)

Brady with a goat

First stop....monkeys

The monkeys were very entertaining. Everyone, especially Brady and Mia, loved the monkeys.

This girl might become a zookeeper someday...she absolutely loved the zoo.

Checking out the giraffes with my big guy.

I love that my friend, McCall, took these pictures of me with the kids. I'm always behind the camera.

Checking out the elephants.

My foot (size 7) compared to an elephant's foot.

Checking out the giraffes and elephants.

Brant

Mia wanted to be up close and personal with all the animals.

I love this picture, I know I'm making a crazy face, but it's so real and I know this is how I look with my kids because they bring me so much happiness and they're always making me smile and laugh.

Our big family.

Brady checking out a blue frog.

Brady in the bird cage.

Mia

The bird whisper (aka Daddy).

You could buy popsicle sticks with bird seeds and the birds would come up and eat  out of your hands.

Brant with Tom (aka McCall)

Gracie

Looks like Tessa is trying to eat a bird.

Tessa

Rayleigh was scared of the birds.

Mia was fearless

Tessa was a big girl.

Gracie wasn't too sure about the birds.

Brant

Daddy with his baby boy.

And apparently the birds loved my shoes.

I'm so glad Steven was on this trip because the zoo was very hilly and I don't think I could have pushed the Seals on Wheels everywhere...he had a hard time pushing almost 130lbs of kids!!!

Note to self...next time, take the family picture before we start our adventure. They were hot, hungry, and tired...not a good combination for pictures.

We had a blast with our family. I'm so thankful we get to get out and do fun stuff as a family.

*A special thanks goes to McCall, Mekisha, and Erica for making the trip with us. You ladies rock and we're so blessed to have you in our lives!

xoxo,
Michelle

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