Day Trip to the National Zoo

* We have a working computer again! After burning through a series of cheap laptops, LL had the IT guy from his work build us a desktop.  This puppy is built to last! :)  And I'm happy to be able to upload pictures again and get back to blogging (using more than one finger on the nook screen.)*

LL has a three day weekend every other weekend, since he works Saturdays of the opposite weekend. This Friday, he said, "Do you want to go to DC and go to the zoo and look at the cherry blossoms tomorrow?"

So we did. :)

We got up early and were on the road around 6:45am, which fairly impressive because we are not an "early bird" family. The kids were so excited and were good for the entire trip down (around 3.5 hours to the city, and then whatever traffic we run into in DC, which varies a lot).  The zoo opened at 10am, and the website said parking was filled by 10:30, so our goal was to get there in time to park at the zoo, and avoid on street parking and metro rides with a double stroller. Thankfully, even though we sat in zoo traffic til 11am, we were able to park in one of their lots.

The zoo was really neat and it was a beautiful day, mid-60s and sunny.  We really couldn't have asked for a better day!

Ready for the zoo! 

 

We saw the lions first. 

 

 Trey was so excited about the gorillas and monkeys. 

 

Collette was very excited to see the elephants.

 

Trey had such a good time at the zoo.  The last time we went he was pretty little, so this was the first time he was really excited to see the animals.



 

These flamingos were a favorite of Collette's.

We had to wait in a line to get into the panda exhibit, but it was worth it.

Collette loved that this panda had a snack bag and was eating apples out of it. 

I have no idea what these furry little guys are, but they were another favorite. :)

 

Trey got in a little snooze while we saw the bird exhibits.

 

Both kids loved the Amazon exhibit and the aquariums.

 Our last stop was the reptile house.  It was almost  5pm, and the kids were beat,

but how could we say no to our little snake lover? :)



 

 

The kids did so well at the zoo. LL and I decided we would leave whenever the kids were done, and they made it through the whole zoo! Collette's only meltdown was when we were leaving-- she didn't want to go! She kept saying "Well, what are we going to do next?"

LL suggested we try to see the cherry blossoms.

Well.

Easier said than done. 

First, we got stuck for over an hour in a traffic jam near the White House-- turns out all traffic had been stopped for the Presidential Motorcade. 

Then, we got lost.

And then stuck in traffic again.

And then we found the cherry blossoms, but we were on the wrong side of the river to see them up close.

I was ready to throw in the towel and go home, but if you know LL at all, "give up" is not in his personality, no matter how lost we may be or how late the hour.  So.... at approximately 8:30pm, we found the cherry blossoms up close and personal.

In the dark. 

But, details.

 

Here they are in all of their glory:

(Taken from the car, in case we didn't find a place to park). 

 

The Washington Monument through the cherry blossoms:

There they are!!

We parked near the Jefferson Memorial, and since the kids had been in the car for over 3 hours (while we sat in traffic and went in circles), we decided to get out and stretch our legs and walk up to the monument.

We made it!  Trey actually "asked" for this picture. 

LL had the camera and he made a grab for it, saying "Cheeeeeese!"

So of course we had to oblige.



We didn't get home until 1:00am, but it was such a fun day!