Enjoying the Fall Weather at the ZOO

By the end of last week, we really, really, R.E.A.L.L.Y needed to get out of the house and into the sunshine.
My BFF Alana was feeling the same way, so we decided to take the kiddos to the zoo for the afternoon.
We were sure that it wouldn't be crowded....but then it was....ARG, but it was still a great afternoon.

Baby Ewan and Cowen. Cowen really wanted to share his drink with Ewan :) so he kept putting it in Ewan's cup holder.

Cowen was pretty excited to get his animal drink. When he saw that it was a lion, he had to "roar" at it! haha..this little boy loves animals. (Said drink ended up all over his lap a little while later when he turned it upside down to watch it pour out)

Here are Madilyn and Cowen watching the elephants. It is a mama elephant and her baby Zuri. Madilyn just loves them and so did Cowen. I think they could have stood like this for at least an hour.

Then it was on to see the rhinos. A man told us that the rhinos were right up by the viewing windows, so we rushed over there and it was amazing. Madilyn couldn't believe how close she was to these magnificent animals. I have to admit that it was pretty neat to see them this close. It was a new experience for me as well. So cool.

Then it was carousel riding time! Madilyn loves this particular carousel as it has the ladybug. We were lucky that the ladybug was still free when we got on and so were the 2 giraffes beside for it for Cowen and Ewan. All the kiddos just LOVED the carousel.

Cowen kept pushing my hand off of him. He obviously didn't want me to hold him while he was riding. What he didn't realize was that he would have fallen a pretty good distance if I wasn't. I finally found a place to hold onto him that he didn't notice.... :)

Group shot with the gorilla :) Cowen was pretty fascinated by it, and at this point Madilyn was pretty tired (she was just a day or so post sicko)

While waiting in line for the train, Cowen entertained his buddy Ewan :) It is sweet to see them interacting with each other. Cowen can't wait until Ewan is old enough to play with him!

Enjoying the 2 minute train ride and the last bit of nice fall weather. This was literally the last nice day we have had.

We ended our zoo day at discovery land where Mad and Co man could run around and play. They headed straight for the hug caterpillar.

Then Madilyn thought that she wanted to try the big snake slide. I was hesitant to let her climb up all those stairs... as a few things were against us that day:
1. I couldn't go with her (per the sign)
2. There were A LOT of kids rushing around, pushing to get up front, etc.
3. It was a pretty big slide by Madilyn standards.

Needless to say, she threw a fit at the top, claiming that there were "too many kids" and just stood there screaming.
I eventually got her to come back down and that is when we called it a day.
It was a really fun day.