Weeknight Zoo FUN!

I'm totally not the "Let's go stay out late on school night," kind of Mom. I'm a very firm believer in hittin' the hay at a VERY decent time each night. If my kids are not in bed by 7:15ish and lights out by 7:30ish, no later than 7:45ish, then I start getting a little uneasy.....

BORING, I know, BUT bed time has always been a serious issue in The Weite House. When traveling, bedtimes go out the window. On weekends, bedtimes get extended a good hour or two, maybe longer, depending on the situation. BUT, on a SCHOOL NIGHT, we are totally a bath time, book time, and early bedtime type of household. My kiddos NEED a good solid night's sleep and, truth be told, I, myself, am NOT a morning person. In fact, I'm a snooze at least three times type of person and if I wake up even five minutes before the alarm goes off, I'm pulling the covers back up over my head, type of person.

With all that being said, I did break my own rules and take the kiddos to the Blank Park Zoo this evening for a little animal survival fun...It was all in celebration of a one-night, statewide celebration of science and math education, so I just had to participate.

I took the older two, Taylen stayed with Grandma, and Jason had (and is still, as I type, at his track meet). We roamed the zoo, enjoying all the learning stations and just absolutely soaked up the beautiful weather and relaxing atmosphere.....

Trey's favorite parts were dissecting the owl pellets (which I totally thought were owl POOP for at least the past 20 years, only to find out tonight that they are just a giant owl HAIRBALL...that's even with a hands-on dissection of the same thing in my Freshman Biology class...UGH!!!) and the Bald Eagle exhibit. Ty's favorite parts were feeding the goats and watching the sea lions. Seeing them both light up at just about everything made missing bedtime all worth it.....

Trey loving the bald eagles....

Checking out the different types of teeth....herbivore vs. carnivore....

Ty excited she got to feel a giraffe skin....she said she never touched one before ;)

Trey finding all kinds of bones in that owl pellet....

Sea lion tricks...

Having a blast and getting along....didn't even argue!!! WOW! Must have been the GORGEOUS weather!!!!

Ty feeding the goat that Trey refused to feed because it was acting like a bully and trying to hog all the food. Ty wanted to make sure he got some too...what a sweetie!!! LOL....

They LOVE feeding these fish....which are waaaay toooo overcrowded in my opinion!!!

Miss Tay after we picked her up from Grandma's.....she wouldn't take these silly things off the entire mile ride home!!! Silly girl!!!!

So, Trey and Ty, although I'm usually a "stay up late on the weekends" kind of Momma, I have to say that I'm sooooo glad we made the trip to the zoo this evening. I'm hoping those words don't come back to haunt me in about 8 hours when I'm trying to wake you three bear-like children up for the day.....Grrrrrrr!!!!

Love you BUNCHES and THANKS so much for the fun evening out!!!!