Friday, August 7, 2009

Staycation: Volume II

We took a rest on Tuesday to gear up for Wednesday and Thursday. The Brookfield Zoo was next on the list. B was very excited about that. She loves the zoo, even though it exhausts me. Brookfield is big. Unless you follow the path around, well even then, it is a lot of walking back and forth. But it is great habitat zoo, though, sometimes, this make sit hard to see the animals. I planned on packing a lunch to take, but well, we never went to the grocery store (Tuesday was a day of rest, you know). So, a mediocre and expensive bison burger was ours to eat. Hey, at least the restaurant wasn't close to the buffalo, at the Shedd, they were serving up fish dinners right next to a tank!

We were all tired, but had a good time. We saw more fish, birds, an alligator, frogs, lizards, turtles and tortoises (B loves her cold blooded friends) penguins, meercats, bison, giraffes, elephants, rhinos. We saw a lot.

B in the car. She studied the map about half
the trip there. She had to Plan out what she
wanted to see.
B wanted to see the dinosaurs. Problem. She is
afraid of the dinosaurs. Definitely a love/hate thing.

This frog statue was in the Feathers and Scales building.
After I took the photo, I look down to see the message
"don't climb in the frog".

B, off the frog. She wasn't happy about it.
especially since other kids kept climbing on Mr. Frog.

Giant turtle alert. Obviously, B likes any animal
she can climb.

Since I didn't get good penguin pictures at the Shedd,
here are a couple from Brookfield.

He dove in right after this shot. I stink
at taking pictures.

This is from the play zoo. Doesn't want to pet the
hamster, wants to play with baby toys. Maybe she will
be a good playmate for Charlie.

These statues are everywhere!

Thursday we hit the beach again. We wanted to go Friday, but the forecast was dim. And it did rain yesterday. ALL DAY. So, Thursday was a good choice. We didn't get as early as a start as we would have liked, but that's OK. It worked out well. I mean, who wants to spend all day at the beach? OK, B does.

Even though B rarely wears sunscreen and has never burned, we
put a bit on her shoulders and face.

The water was cold, but not as cold as Sunday.

I dug a hole for her bucket and made
a pool for her "guys".

B is buried up to her knees in sand.

B is learning to body surf.

Every time Mike and B went into the water, the
waves disappeared. They would walk out, and back
the waves came. Here, they get a good one.

Yesterday was rainy. We hit the gym, then I tried, with Mike's help, to organize B's and my craft room. I got rid of lots of magazines and books. Then last night, we went over to our neighbor's for Markus's 39th birthday. B had a blast. Today, just some errands and cleaning. Tomorrow, my sister's. It is going to be HOT and she is bringing lobsters back from Maine. I need to make a salad and dessert. Absolutely no idea what to make.

All in all, I have enjoyed our vacation. We did so many fun things. Next summer, we are definitely buying a beach pass, we just had so much fun (and road construction might be over by then) and B loved it.

Now that Mike is going to work on Monday and B is out of school until the 26th, what am I going to do with B?

2 comments:

Jennifer said...

Your pictures were great. I have a picture of Jake on the giraffe on his 1st birthday. I'd forgotten about it until I saw B sitting on it. Sounds like you've had an awesome week. You and B will hang out with us until school. Then you'll have to hang out with me when all the kids go to school.

pink and green mama MaryLea said...

what a fun zoo!! I don't see how they can put such a cool frog statue in the lobby like that and NOT expect kids to climb all over it!!