texas trip - weekend 1

Saturday morning we waited until after Camryn's first nap, then went to the Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary.  I was expecting it to be small, especially compared to the National Zoo in DC, which we go to all the time.  But it was better than I thought it would be!  They had plenty for Jed to see and enjoy, and he absolutely LOVED it!  He was ecstatic to get out of the house and loves zoos anyway, so he was thrilled. We were sad that the kinkajous didn't appear to be out at the time, but there were lots of other animals for him to see.  It rained on and off but for the most part the weather was nice - overcast and cool but not cold at all.

Panthers, lemur, monkey with a squeaky banana toy, pig

He especially loved all the peacocks yelping and walking around freely.

There were 6 or 7 tigers, and you could get so close!  At our zoo the lions and tigers are far away - over a wall and across a moat.  But these ones were so close you could almost reach out and touch them!

We bought a bag of animal feed, for the sheep, goats, deer, and llamas.  I thought Jed would enjoy feeding the animals, but he was too nervous to do it himself.  Instead, he wanted to put the food pellets in Amara's hand and watch her give them to the animals.

Jed really really loved the reptile house too (he is such a boy!):

He took a great nap that afternoon, which I was very happy about!  Then he played with Micaela and Amara and had a blast.  A much-needed bath before bed completed the day!

The next day we went to church with Laura, and Jed was very excited to see Dave singing with the choir - and even more excited when Dave came to sit with us after the musical numbers.  After naptime we took Amara out to eat for her birthday (which wasn't until the following Monday, but we wouldn't see her then) at Chili's.  Amara ordered pizza, as always. :)  Jed had a grand time eating chips and salsa, and playing with the electronic menu (and nearly ordering dessert and more drinks for all of us with it!).

After a very satisfying meal it was time for stories and bed!  Jed loves snuggling with his Uncle Dave.