Zoobilee Zoo

...Magic and wonder are waiting for you!

I hope that song gets stuck in your head too. I'd hate to be the only person walking around singing a theme song to an 80's show where adults are dressed up as animals.

Ava may never experience the awesomeness of Zoobilee Zoo (unless one day she stumbles upon it on Nick at Nite), but yesterday she got to experience the North Carolina Zoo, and let me say, the latter is much less creepy than the former.

At about 9am, 4 moms, 6 kids, 4 strollers and endless snacks & diapers piled into 2 minivans and traveled down 220 to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. This is what the kids looked like in the Pearman van. I'd like to think that the 3 of them were so excited, they didnt know what to do. Yeah, that's what I'll keep telling myself...

We saw pretty much every animal the zoo has to offer. Here are a few of the critters I managed to get a picture of.

The sunbathing alligators. I couldn't help but think that my 2 nephews wouldn't be the least bit interested in this particular exhibit. I can just hear Jack now, "I can see an alligator anytime I want. All I have to do is go out in my backyard." Don't get me wrong, I love the Lowcountry, but having alligators as backyard wildlife makes me thankful I live in Greensboro.

We got up close and personal with a polar bear.

We also saw the polar bear from afar... which is my preferred gazing distance.

Gorillas, or as Ava kept saying, "Ah ah ah!" (Her sound for a monkey)

And swamp ghosts. What? Apparently they are nothing more than albino alligators. Extra creepy.

One of my favorite stops yesterday was to see the zebras and giraffes. It was evident that this was Ava's favorite stop too since she could not stop pointing at the animals and saying, "Wow!"

At some point during the day, us moms caught a glimpse of how the animals must feel while being stared at by people. We too, were stared at by people as we made our way through the zoo. I mean, wouldn't you stare also if you saw 4 giant orange and blue strollers, being pushed by 4 moms with 6 kids who may or may not have been screaming? This is what our group looked like every time we parked the strollers to get out and look at the animals. From left to right: Haven, Finley, Tucker, Ava, Matt and Jack.

Remember how I mentioned that the kids may or may not have been screaming? Let me show you an example of "may not have been screaming." This precious baby angel is Haven. This was her first trip to the zoo, and she slept through about 95% of it. She made the trip very easy on her mom... but I am curious how she did that night. If a baby sleeps all day, she's gotta be awake at some point, right? Let's hope Haven didn't decide to be the life of the party at 3am.

In between animal watching, diaper changing, and walking around, Ava stuffed her face with her new favorite snack... pretzels.

This is what our potty breaks looked like. 2 of the 6 kids (and all 4 moms) are potty trained, which required a few extra stops throughout the day. 2 moms stayed and watched the parked strollers while the other 2 moms did bathroom duty. I am glad that I was in charge of the strollers, and for that matter, glad that Ava is still in diapers!

By the end of the day, both moms and kids were pretty worn out. For the moms, the day went something like this:

-Push kids and gear around in stroller

-Park stroller

-Take kid(s) out of the stroller

-Walk over to look at animal(s)

-Put kid(s) back in stroller

-Push kids and gear in stroller

-Snack time

-Push kids and gear in stroller

-Potty time

-Repeat x 100

Who needs to go to the gym when you can take your kids to the zoo?

Finny-Finnster understands what it means to chill. Legs up, reclined, fingers in mouth... life is good.

Matt caught on to the whole chillin' thing too, while big brother Jack took a snooze.

All in all, great day at the zoo. Ava and I had a blast! Considering it only cost us $5 to get in the park, we'll definitely be back again... Hopefully next time Matt will be with us!