Smithsonian Zoo Part 2

Right before lunch, we stopped at the reptile house.  This one doesn't allow strollers in, and rather than uncart 2 infants and all the crap we didn't want stolen, I volunteered to stay outside.  Because, lets face it, it was a huge sacrifice for me not to see snakes and lizards and other slimy, slithery things.  While I was waiting outside, I got to see something cool, so I guess I am not tooooooo disappointed.  They have a "monkey walk" between the Great Ape House and the Think Tank.  The monkeys are free to go on this connector, which spans a decent part of the zoo, and go back and forth at their own will.  It is high enough they can't come down, so there is no danger there, but allows them their freedom of movement between places.  It was neat :)

Then, we followed the elephant prints to get ourselves some $6 hotdogs.  Lemme tell ya, the Smithsonian museums/zoos have free admission, but they will kill you on the food!

Watching a video.

Seems I have a lot of picture of Dylan.

Must be because he is still in that "mostly cute, but I can still give him a good whack if I need to" stage.

Miss Grumpy Pants after waking up from a stroller nap.

Towards the end, we stopped at a sea lion enclosure.  I love this picture.  You can't see much of hubby, but you know he is there.  Plus the colors and clarity are so crisp!

They were nice enough to give the kids a real show, swimming and jumping, as well as playing with some dive toys in their pool.

We walked down around the cornet to see the same exhibit from a different angle.

Would you look at that!!!  Everyone is facing forwards, with a halfway decent smile on their face.  Even the sea lion!

Then it was time to head to the petting zoo on the way out.

Which gave Karley reason to pause and meditate.

I could have told her there were other places to do that that didn't smell like manure.  But she didn't ask me :)

Smithsonian Zoo, Part 1

Tuesday, thankfully, it wasn't raining.  It was, however, still pretty cold.  We bundled up and headed for the National Zoo.

Would you look at those homo sapiens over there?  What an odd ritual, lining up at the wall and pointing at things.  And look how they cover themselves all up.  Maybe, evolution will help them grow more hair in the next generations....

She really did enjoy it.  Really.  I promise.  I'm not lying, regardless of what her face says.

Dylan:  All boy.  All the time.

Alright.  The girls are pretty cute too, holding hands and what not.

What is up with Kari's face?!?! 

Lions and tigers and bears, Oh my!  Love the kids heads in the foreground :)

I think they were looking at tigers?  Maybe?

Again, Kelsey and Kelly were absolute troopers!  They stayed in their strollers and hardly fussed at all!  It was nice to have them there, even if they didn't really enjoy themselves.

More pictures of interesting looking animals coming soon.  Oh, and more pictures of the zoo also :)

Natural History Museum Part 2

After lunch, because we were right beside it, we stopped in the gift shop.  The kids liked everything, wanted everything, and touched everything.  But, they spent a good, long while looking at/playing with the stuffed animals.

 Please Mom!!!  Please?!?!

They have a section that is kind of devoted to traveling/mobile displays, and while we were there, they had a some beautiful orchids.

Look what my new camera can do :)

Then we went to the wing with all the animals that are still alive (as opposed to the dinosaurs and other extinct animals).  I had no idea how big a walrus really is.  And it appears that Karley is kissing the window.  She really loved the walrus :)

There was also a section with some really cool rocks.

I know.  Just what you wanted to see.  Rocks.

Maybe you want to see that one though.  This is the Hope Diamond.  Very pretty!  

The day was coming to a close.  We had spent 7 hours inside the Natural History Museum, and still hadn't finished.  It was, however, still time to go home.  We stopped back through the extinct wing for a quick picture or two and went home.

(I love how Kari is the only one posing like we asked them to.  Kaitlyn was D.O.N.E. done, and Karley and Dylan didn't really care anymore)

Mammoth skeleton

These pictures were Uncle Map's idea.  He has a decent eye for well composed shots :)

I like this one even better!

However, it is slightly reminiscent of Jurassic Park.  Should I be worried?

Natural History Museum Part 1

Monday morning, bright and early, we got up and drove to the metro station.

 The kids were super excited to "ride a train", and we were pretty excited not to have to drive in downtown DC traffic or to have to find a parking place.

Having recently watched "Night at the Museum", we were pretty excited to take the kids to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.  I remember going there on a field trip in 6th grade (I think) and thinking it was pretty cool.  The first thing you see when you walk in is a life size elephant.

Then we headed off to the dinosaur wing.  This particular day in DC, it was cold and rainy, so there were quite a few tourists inside.

Dylan called this the "Sharp teeth".

Kelsey did a really good job in the stroller, surrounded by all our junk.

This picture is for hubby.  This is a prehistoric horse.  :)  I am not sure he would get very far on it though....

And some cool petrified trees.

And now back to pictures of the kids, not of "stuff".  Dylan was totally amazed at... something. I can't remember :)

I think they were maybe watching a video on eels?

Doah!  One more.  A cool sea turtle.  

Oh Hi Kelsey!  Glad you are still happy :)

We spent 3 hours before lunch looking around.  I forgot how many cool things there are to see in there.  It was huge!  Then, we waited in line for the downstairs cafe, to buy some $7 slices of pizza.  Oh well.  The museum was free...

Gymnastics Snow

When we left the gym, we came outside to snow!

The older kids ran around for a while and tried to catch some.

While Kelsey wasn't that impressed.  "Eh.  Its just snow!"

I love these pictures.  Cute tongues, and running around.

Snow Mom!

Then we went home, ate a little bit of dinner, and got into bed.  We had to be prepared for Monday, after all :)