Our Trip to the Zoo

A couple of weeks ago we took a trip to the Lehigh Valley Zoo. It was the perfect size for toddlers especially ones that don't have a stroller to lounge in periodically. It was small, not too many animals, and in a beautiful location. It borders a nature preserve in the hills and the drive to the parking lot was just as nice as actually spending time in the zoo. It was no where near as impressive as our trip to the Waco Zoo with Memaw, but it was perfect for young kids who needed to walk on their own.


Oh and on the way there Lilly said, "Papou if there is a frog house you'll have to take us in there by yourself. Mommy really doesn't like frogs, but I do." Then Sadie chimes in, "Yea they freak her out! Daddy had to take one out of the car!" And when you read that dialogue make sure you add Sadie's Boston accent. It sounds more like this, "Yea they fweak hewr out! Daddy had to take one out of the cah!". We are still trying to figure out where she picked it up from.


We saw some penguins, prairie dogs, a small alligator, goats, geese, swans, a zebra, alpacas, an ostrich, and some birds of prey. There were peacocks roaming freely around the zoo and they were beautiful. Ruby wanted to run up to it and pet it- like she did with all the other animals. She feels the need to touch EVERYTHING now, or put it in her mout The girls were so excited to see an owl that looks just like Hedwig. Hedwig is Harry Potter's owl and the girls a obsessed with anything Harry Potter. We were able to go into a "bird house" that housed several macaws that we were actually able to feed, touch, and even hold the birds- if they were willing to let someone hold them.


I think I was most proud of Lilly. Lilly is so eager and excited to learn to read. That's all she really wants to do at school. That girl is so excited to be able to sit and read a book all by herself. I'm sure that she'll try and stay awake at night reading and fall asleep with her head in a book. One thing that Lilly has been good at is memorizing words. I have tried to get her to sound out words but it just hasn't clicked for her. She has memorized a lot of words. We went up to one of the zoo habitats and Lilly walked straight up to the plaque that describes the animals and without any help says, "Wolf. Oh wolves are in here, let's go! Did you know that my Daddy has wolves on his arm?" I was so shocked and proud of her. When she can read a full book by herself I think we are going to have to throw her a big ole party. I know how proud of herself she'll be.


Remember how I said it was a small zoo, well right about the time when Lilly and Sadie started to complain about being tired of walking we had seen all the animals. It worked out perfectly. Since the zoo is right on the nature preserve we got to see some deer, and protected elk and bison. We hadn't had lunch yet we decided to go thru a drive thru somewhere. Sadie chimed in quickly with McDonald's and wouldn't let up about it. I checked the navigation and found one not to far from where we were. We started following the directions and it started taking us further and further into farm country. I thought, "Man where is this place?" Just then we turned back onto the main road we started on, but this time in the opposite direction. So instead of just making a U-turn we went at least 10 minutes out of the way to do it! Crazy! And to top it off, when we got there Sadie was sound asleep. Typical Sadie-Mae, she just ate when we got back to the house.



We all had a fun day and I think we are going to make another trip there once Daddy gets here.The girls are just like him when it comes to animals. They love them all.