A Day At The Zoo

The Los Angeles Zoo has a great family pass. We purchased one for $60.00 last summer. It includes the whole family so it is a great bargain for Large Families.

We met some friends there from our school group.

Here is Amelia and a few of her little friends goofing around while we waited for the bird show to start.  Aren't they all so cute?

Here are the flamingo's that are right when you walk in.  I have fond memories of sitting on the steps in front of them with my mom as a young girl:)

Paige loved all the animals.  She would just stand in front of them all day long and watch if the other kids would let her.  She really liked this elephant.

Here is our beautiful Samantha in front of one of the painted Elephants.  These were really pretty but some of them had strange images on them.  One had a Chihuahua  painted on it.  What does that have to do with a zoo?

Dave and Paige in front of the giraffe's.  They were so cute!

This picture cracks me up.  That is Paige's "I really don't want to smile for you" face.  Levi looks really tired at this point in the day.  We were on our way to the car.  It was in the high 80's today, a little warmer than I had hoped for all that walking.

Paige watching the ape on the top of the rocks.

This orangutan had just had a baby.  She was nursing him, and let me just tell you that when she was done I was shocked at her breastage.  Oh my, that girl had some milk.  It was like watching a naked woman walk around.  I had to giggle that the kids were so busy admiring the baby they didn't notice.  I was thankful for that:)  I didn't want to have to answer any questions right then and there. Ha.

Right before going home Garrett and a friend went and got some shaved ice.  The guy running the cart was just closing up so he made them each a gigantic one with all his left over ice.  Really nice, but can you see how huge these things were.  Unfortunately, most of it ended up falling to the ground.  The boys thought it was awesome though!

Walking up our last hill to get out of the zoo.  Man that place is hilly.  They are doing remodeling so the trams weren't running.  We must have literally walked 10 miles.

We rented a stroller.  Even the big kids had fun hanging out in it:)

They have a great playground at this zoo.  We tried to take a picture of the three youngest children on the little elephant but Levi was in a funk. I call this his Ethiopian pout. 

When we were getting ready to leave he wanted an ice cream. I told him that I would love one also but they were $3.50 a piece and I didn't want to pay $25.00 for us each to have one plain ice cream cone.

He got mad.

The kids then wanted to hit the gift shop on the way out of the zoo.  I told each of them that they could have $3.00 for a little treat but anything they wanted that cost more than that they would have to make up the difference.  Everyone was fine with that except Levi.  He wanted a snake that cost $10.00 but didn't want to pay the difference himself.

It really wasn't about the money.  We learned from our older kids that many times the kids want these little toys, that cost so much, but then discard them as soon as we get home.  We're trying to teach them about making money choices early in life.  

Paige and Amelia both picked these cute animal bubbles.  Levi was standing firm.  I showed him some cool pens, candy, etc..  But he didn't want that.  Dave told him he had two minutes to decide and when he didn't we left without him getting anything.  That might sound mean but life is all about making choices.  It's better he learns that now rather than later.

When we were walking to the car he grumbled to me that I could have helped him find something.  I tried to.  He then said that we never buy him anything.  Oh my, that sent me over the edge.  You see, our boy loves baseball.  He wanted a new catchers mitt, practice pants (which he didn't need) and catchers gear.  He has received all of these things recently.  Oh yeah, I forgot the new bat.  If your child plays sports you know how much all of this costs.  His sisters NEVER ask for anything.  I reminded him of all of this.  He seemed sorry and walked to the car.

On the way home we went through McDonald's and got everyone a soft serve cone for a total of under $5.00.  That brightened his mood and helped him understand about money choices.  He quickly figured out how much money we had saved on that choice.  A lesson learned:)

He was perfectly happy by the time we got home and the girls shared their bubbles with him.

Another great day in the life of our family:)