Brookfield Zoo

Natalie and Kinley at Brookfield

This past weekend we went to Brookfield Zoo - Natalie and Kinley's first of many trips, I am sure.  Although we had a nice time, I think both of Tommy's and I's expections were too high going into the day.  The girls LOVE animals right now so we thought they would be super into it- they "ooh" and "ahhh" when they spot squirrels, rabbits, birds, dogs, cats - you get the picture.  They enjoy labeling animals in books but especially love to say the sounds many animals make when we look at books together- which occurs frequently since they are obsessed with books (Auntie Kristy would be proud).  So, based on all of this we thought the zoo would be a stellar experience and be the perfect time in their development to go.  First, I will say that going with little food packed AND on a 90 degree day may not have been the brightest move Tommy and I have have ever made, but seriously, we have been dying for good weather here in Chicago, so we jumped at the opportunity on the first nice day we had.  I think it also made it tempting because we got in FREE thanks to some friends!

Brookfield Zoo is huge, and very spread out... and they had no elephants at the moment, which was kinda a bummer.  The girls got to see some of the "big ticket" animals, and seemed to really enjoy the giraffes and monkeys.  Overall, I think they enjoyed running around most of all - exploring  about whenever we were brave enough to let them out of  The Bob.  The only problem was that they did not like being put back in their stroller because they always had so much fun when they were out.    It was kind of difficult to keep up with two 16-month-old little rascals!  They would run in front of, behind, and into plenty of  random strangers while we tagged along behind trying not to let them get into too much trouble.  Anyway, here are some of my favorite pics from the day that Michelle Hamstra took for us!   

We were looking forward to getting the girls home for nap time, thinking they would take an extra long nap that day. Oh were we wrong.  Even after keeping them awake the entire 45 minute drive home they got in their cribs and went nuts.  For about an hour they were going wild- giggling, running about, "chatting" with one another, etc.   Kinley didn't sleep at all when she needed it most!  Even though we  were exhausted from being in the sun all day and really wanted a nap ourselves, we made it through and enjoyed the time we got to spending time with our lovely girls, chatting with friends (old and new alike), and getting outside for the first time in awhile!  We are off to go strawberry picking this weekend as well as welcome Robin and Mason to our new home!  We are super excited and think it's going to be a great weekend to spend with them!!