SD Zoo

We met Grandpa Frank, Grandma Julie, Jamie, and Julie's sister and her husband for a fun SD Zoo day.

Life is good. Shade from the stroller canopy, buttered popcorn, and family members loving him from all sides!

James could NOT get enough of his Grandpa Frank. He was giggling and pulling on Grandpa for the entire day. Wow, that's a lot of love.

Silly!

Hey, there are two Franks in this picture!

Seriously, this kid's love of ice cream is unreal.

I think the pictures say it all. Just a super fun day. Thank you Grandma Julie and Grandpa Frank for a fun day!

The Zoo with Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss was on the loose at the Zoo! It was perfect timing because James has been enjoying his Dr. Seuss library looks these past few weeks. The Zoo had Dr. Seuss sculptures and signs scattered throughout the zoo, pointing out various animals that appear in the books.

James gives the Lorax a high five. (It's been his favorite book lately.)

I realize that a lot of these pictures may seem familiar, because we've visited each of these areas multiple times now, but it's always fun to see James' reaction to them because it's like he's seeing them for the first time.

In the summer these bears are surrounded by fountain sprays that are motion activated. Today, we enjoyed comparing our heights to the bears. Jim is asking James, "Is this bear grande or pequeno?"

James explores the dinosaur bones.

Baby geese!

We always have to hit the playground.

And the goats!

And the other playground. Jumping on the rope bridge. Scaaaaaary.

"Shark cave".

As we were leaving we saw the Cat in the Hat! The picture isn't perfect- too much sun in the background.

What a great day!

James is a paying customer

At almost four years old James is now a paying customer at the MN Zoo. Our membership expired so we renewed under a different plan because James is over the "Free" age. We're happy to invest in the membership- it will surely pay for itself after just a few visits!

The first stop was the new Russian Coast exhibit. We've been there before but James was definitely more interested in the animals this time.

A bear!


The fall colors were starting to pop!


We stopped at the prairie dogs for a few minutes. James had so much fun watching the little guys do their thing. They were quite funny- rolling around in the dirt, popping up and down in their holes, and nibbling on food.



So interested in the prairie dogs. He refused to call them prairie dogs though.

There's always playground time.

We hopped on the wagon to the Wells Fargo Family Farm. They advertised that they were having a fall festival- with animal scarecrows, a corn maze, and music.

James watched another boy make this pose on the giant pig. He crawled up and did the same.

Yeah, it wasn't a big priority to me to take a picture with this pig. Daddy hopped on though :)

Animal scarecrows.

James all of a sudden hugged this one. It was so cute!

The corn maze.

It wasn't a big maze. I wasn't worried about him running ahead.

After the farm we went to the other playground. I love this one. It has lots of natural settings and pieces to climb on. James loved playing in this "nest".

Before lunch we hopped on the monorail. I don't remember ever going on this EVER and it was really fun to do it with Jim and James. We glided along the treetops and watched the animals.

James loves his Daddy!

Basking in the sun.

James is getting more and more comfortable with the camera. Up and close and personal :)

At the zoo's food court there were so many temptations. After an attempt at a good lunch we did give in and buy James this sucker. We never buy him things like this. It was a good treat. (And I secretly threw it away when he forgot about it. He probably licked that thing off and on for a good hour and then put it down. Later on I wrapped it up and put it in my purse, waiting for him to ask for it again. He never did so TRASH!)

After lunch and the treat we went to the other indoor exhibits. We love these. The Tropics area and the Minnesota Trail.

It was a long, happy day and a nap came quickly in the car, but still clutching the sucker.

It was our anniversary and so we went out to dinner to celebrate at the Cheesecake Factory. James is my son. He loves his carbs too! Mmmm. Bread.

I love my family. I love great, active days like these!