Wow, what a full day! He didn't want to get up this morning because of a late night last night, but they needed to be to the zoo by 9am. Carter and Grandma Cindy grabbed a donut on the way (he also ate an apple and an orange) and made it to the zoo. Carter had fun -- he rode the log ride, the train, and the merry-go-round. He wanted to ride on the "couch" on the merry-go-roung... why not an animal going up and down? Who knows... :)
After leaving the zoo, the whole group (two of Cindy's coworkers, their daughters and granddaughters) went to Clara's Pizza. Then off they went to Marilyn's house to swim! Last year Carter had so much fun, but he's become much more comfortable in the water this year. Cindy said he would go down the slide, but only if someone would catch him at first. After jumping off the side and then the diving board, he exclaimed that he liked going underwater and began sliding by himself. Lately at the pool he has been going underwater more, even keeping his eyes and nose open!
They headed home to rest a little before heading back down to Hoagland Days. They caught the demolition derby, which Carter seemed to enjoy. While riding with Matt, he often tells him to bump cars or will tell me I need to pass someone -- I think he's been playing too much Mario Kart Wii! He did tell Cindy that he was tired and wanted to go home at one point, but was fine. They played some bingo and had ice cream and sno-cones before heading home. Tomorrow, he'll sleep in as late as he needs! Sounds like he's having a great time. :)
Today we went to the Indianapolis Zoo. My nephew, Theoren, has been staying with us all week, so we wanted to do something fun! We had a good time, although I will say that I'm a bit disappointed in this zoo. It was much smaller than I thought, and the exhibits weren't all that big (or had that many animals). In the Ft. Wayne zoo, our most frequented, you see animals as you walk along. Indianapolis had paths all over and you only saw animals once you were at the exhibits. Even then, there were only one or two in each habitat, and they weren't very active -- it was a little hot today though. But, overall we did have fun. We saw an elephant show that was neat. We liked seeing them do their tricks!
One of their popular exhibits is the koala bears. They were fun to see -- one was sleeping, but the other showed off for the onlookers. I got him once he curled up, but also stretching out and saying hi.
Another one of the boys' favorite animals was the bald eagle. At first we only saw the turkey vulture (and the dead chicks strewn on a branch for it!) and the ravens. As we were walking away, we looked up and saw the magnificent eagle. It's HUGE up close!
We also saw the dolphin show. The pictures didn't turn out great, but it was fun to watch. I think it was even more fun to watch Carter watch the show! :) All in all, a great day. It was nice being outside and watching the kids get so excited to see everything. Lauren did great all day, and conked out as soon as the car started moving (seriously, not even out of the parking lot and she was asleep!). At least she doesn't get cranky if she misses a nap... You can see all of our pictures here. 