Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular

I took the boys to the zoo Tuesday night to see the Jack-o-latern Spectacular. We went last year and had fun, so I really wanted to take the boys again. I decided to head up there on a weeknight to hopefully avoid the crazy crowd that was there last year and that was a great decision. It was still very busy, but way fewer people than on a weekend. And it was a gorgeous fall night; still 70 degrees when we left around 7:45!

It's not always easy taking both boys out by myself, but they were both so well-behaved. They were in awe the whole time. Bryce must've said "pumpkin" 100 times and Brennan kept saying, "This is so super duper uper fun!" The theme this year was A-Z, so there was a category for each letter of the alphabet.

We did have to wait in a line for the trail to open. They don't look too thrilled here.

I let them both hop out of the stroller while we waited by the Red River Hogs.

Workers came through the line with Dum Dums, so both boys were happy.

Then around 6:30 it was time to go in!

Towards the very end there were all kinds of jackolanterns up in this tree. It looked like they were floating. It was probably my favorite part.

Back to the Zoo

You're probably tired of seeing pictures of the boys at the zoo, but we went back there again on Monday. It's so fun. We are certainly getting good use out of our membership this year! We headed up early and got there right at 10am as it opened. Of course we headed straight to the water play area and treehouse.

This picture is so dark, but I loved the boys both turning the wheels to work the cranks. We were the only ones up there at this point.

Of course Bryce had a great time with the water! Brennan even played in it a little.

Brennan's only other request of course was to go to the "jumping part". I did mange to snap a few pictures of animals along the way.

The snow leopard was actually up and moving around.

And I just love the red pandas. This one was sleeping. I ended up buying a red panda stuffed animal at the gift shop because I think they're so cute.

Go, Brennan, go!

He also wanted to stop at this Exploration Station so he could see the elephant poop again! Boys! He listened so intently the whole time to what the man was saying. I learned a few things about giraffes and elephants too!

We got stuck in some pretty bad traffic on our ride back home, but both boys were excellent. I'm sure we will be back again soon!

Back to the Zoo

On Tuesday, the boys and I headed back to the Roger Williams Zoo. It was a nice warm day and I much prefer going on weekdays when it's less crowded. We headed out around 9:30 and got there a little after it opened at 10.

Brennan wanted to head right up to the treehouse to do the ball crank he loved so much last time. It is really neat. On the other side of the treehouse are more steering wheels that turn these colored leaves in the windows. It's really pretty.

Unfortunately, the water play area was closed for maintenance. They told us it should be up and running soon, so we decided to go ahead and walk around for a bit. We saw the elephants and then stopped for ice cream. Brennan earned ice cream for staying in bed until 7am for five mornings. He used to do that all the time, but recently started getting up before seven and that's not cool with Momma. A little bribery seemed to work. After ice cream we saw the elephants getting bathed, took a picture of a giraffe, and then headed back to the water area.

I like these butterfly pictures of Brennan!

After about five more minutes the water finally came on. Bryce was in heaven. Brennan mainly pouted and went and sat in the stroller to eat a snack. I wish these pictures could properly convey how much fun Bryce was having. The water wall he loved last time wasn't working, but he still really liked these sprayers. I'm just going to share every picture I took of him playing because I was cracking up watching him in there with the big kids.

His face in these next ones is so great. He was loving it!

And then there's B in the stroller. Bless his little pouty heart.

Other than the water play area and the treehouse Brennan's other favorite spot at the zoo is the "jumping game", so we headed there next. He wanted to stop for a picture on the stone elephant. And actually gave me a good smile.

We bypassed most of the animals and went to where he could jump. This action shot looks like he's about to face plant, but he's gotten really good at jumping.

After that we headed home. Both boys snacked a lot while were there so we ate just a tiny bit for lunch and then both boys went down for a nap.

It's such a fun place to visit!

Fun at the Zoo

Monday was an absolutely gorgeous day. Brennan had school and Bryce napped the whole time he was there, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to drive up to the zoo after picking up Brennan. 

I've said before that our zoo has this great play area now. It has lots of water features, lots of free play space, a big treehouse, and a playground. That's where we headed first. I even had both boys dressed in their swimsuits so they could get as wet as they wanted. 

We ended up heading up to the treehouse before getting in the water. It had a whole new contraption since we last visited that was super cool. There are cranks and pipes and all sorts of things overhead and you use steering wheels to crank tennis balls up and they roll all through the tubes and things. I'm not explaining it well, but it was super neat and Brennan was mesmerized. 

We even spotted a Louisville Slugger bat up there!

After that it was time for water fun. If today was any indication, Bryce will love the splash pad this summer and will have the best time at the water park during our summer vacation. He LOVED the water. It was right in there with the bigger kids playing and splashing and spraying. He could've cared less where I was and if he fell down he got right back up and played some more. Brennan played in the water some, but kept complaining about getting splashed. He's nuts. But he was cute putting on puppet shows and painting with water.

Doing things like this make me realize I'm actually going to be able to survive this summer with two boys. I was afraid they'd be too all over the place and never wanting to do the same thing and both crying I wasn't with them. But they've actually been great so far. Bryce is so much more independent that Brennan was at his age (or is now!) so that's helped a lot!

I didn't really take many pictures of the animals. The boys just stayed in the stroller and ate snacks for the most part as we made our way through the zoo. Brennan did ask to stop at watch the construction going on. They are building a new farm area that will include a petting zoo and feeding station. And I thought the baby ducks were so cute, so I had to snap a picture of them.

I just renewed our membership to the zoo, so we will be visiting a lot this summer!