Wednesday, October 27, 2010

It Was a Zoo

A couple of weeks ago, I told the girls that we would be having a surprise that Saturday. I really wanted to surprise them with the zoo.

"Donuts?" asked Natalie
"No," I replied. (Bless her heart, she's just like me)
"Ice Cream?" she tried again.
"No, it's better than that." I said. "We're going to go somewhere."
"Costco?!"

I guess my kids are easy to please. If it involves shopping and food, they are happy. They are more like me than I could have ever imagined.

We made it all the way into DC, through the Pentagon City Mall, on and off the Metro, and down Connecticut Avenue to the big Zoo sign before I told them where we were:


They allowed me one photo opp before we headed full tilt inside...

As we meandered away from the Visitor's Center:

Me (reading sign): Oh, the cheetahs are that way.
Michaela Byrd: Cheetohs? I want Cheetohs!
Me: No...not Cheetohs. Cheet-ahs.
Michaela Byrd (looking around wildly): I want some Cheetohs!
(People passing by begin to laugh. I worry that they think I might feed my two year old chips on a regular basis)

It was an interesting day. We were more than a little disappointed that we didn't see a single panda bear, and the elephants were so far away that you needed binoculars to really see them. The last time T and I were in the zoo was back in college, and the pandas were all over the place. But the surprise was fun, and I couldn't leave this post without a few cute pictures.
  
We ended the day with a very late lunch in the Pentagon City Mall on the way home. T may or may not have also taken them to the candy store. I don't know of a better way to end a fun day like that....  

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19 comments:

  1. Zoo trips are so fun! I love the picture of the girls in the zoo sign. Adorable!

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  2. Very fun surprise! I can never keep surprises like that, I always tell them and very possibly stock up on some books on that topic the week before...

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  3. Oh my gosh, the video is sooo cute! Haha! What a fun day it must have been. :-D

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  4. love a good surprise!!

    Looks like the weather was great too!

    at least now you know you can add Costco to their list of fun things to do :)

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  5. The Costco thing is so funny! Hannah always asks me if we can go to Target. If I say no, she asks for WalMart! LOL!!

    And every time she gets to the cheetah in one of her books, she always says "cheetah, mmmmmmmm!" What's funny about that is she has been on a special diet to control her epilepsy and she hasn't had a cheeto in 2 1/2 years!! I'm shocked that she STILL remembers...poor baby! If she ever gets to come off this diet I'm going to buy her a big bag of cheetos!

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  6. Love the zoo, Costco and food! Any would have made me happy too! Looks like they loved the zoo and it was a pretty and sunny day!

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  7. No pandas? At the National Zoo?? How could that be?

    We haven't been to the zoo in so long. I used to love to take the boys when they were little. Of course, they're probably big enough now that they would enjoy it again!

    Zoo and candy store in one day? Now that's a good day. :)

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  8. Amanda, your girls are even cuter than I could of imagined. That video was so darn cute. I love how easy they are to please, Costco? How funny is that.

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  9. I love the zoo and I still have one child left that I haven't taken yet---thank you for the idea! The weather has been perfect for that! I live in Southern MD and have been to that zoo many, many times before with my kids and we have almost never been able to see the Pandas. We still have a good time though. Cheetos---how cute---I love them too :)

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  10. The video is the cutest thing! They were so excited...I love it. Their hair bows were adorable, too! You're such a good mama (:

    ~Michaela

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  11. my kids would guess food first too-i'm sure my 13 yr old would guess we were going out for dinner-looks like a great zoo-we have relatives in Baltimore-i'd love to visit them and take a trip to the zoo

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  12. That is the sweetest video! They are so excited!! Sounds like the girls get as excited about donuts as I do about tacos and white cheese dip. Love the cheetos/cheetahs conversation. That is hysterical!!

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  13. How fun and what a neat surprise for your girls! Ha now I want cheetos!

    Kendra aka "Domestic Princess in Training"

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  14. Cute! I like how that daughter of yours thinks! That conversation reminds me - we took BBC to the zoo when he was younger. He was OBSESSED with construction equipment. On the way there he told us he hoped to see a bobcat. We were impressed that he mentioned that animal until he started talking a little more about it and we realized he meant the equipment - ha! The time before that we saw one at the zoo in a construction area. Oh the things kids think - ha!

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  15. That looks like the perfect day! Well, if there had been cheetos.

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  16. The girls' excitement in that video was too cute! My favorite picture is the chimp one. I go on a zoo field trip every.single.June and I'm not tired of it yet! Zoos are fun for kids of all ages.

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  17. Cute...cute...cute!! I haven't been to the Zoo in a long time. Not since my grandkids were young. Looks like you had a perfect day! And fun as well. Did she ever get her Cheetos? LOL!!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  18. How fun! I wish I would have known you were right there. We could have totally gone right by each other. Crazy!

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  19. Too cute!! Love the video. I also love cheetohs, lol :)

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