A few weekends ago we were trying to decide what to do. I have been wanting to go to the National Harbor in DC and check out the Children's Museum and new Carousel there, but there are very mixed reviews on the Children's museum and it was a little drizzly out- so probably wouldn't get the best views from the carousel... so we decided to go to the National Zoo in DC (thinking that since it was a drizzly day, maybe it wouldn't be that crowded on a Saturday in the Summer... we were wrong :) heh). One of the biggest perks of the DC Zoo is it is FREE!!
We hadn't been to the Zoo this year yet, and the last time that Jonathan went, he was a little over one year old. We had a blast and it wore him out, so we were looking forward to going again.
As you can see, Jonathan was most looking forward to seeing Zebras. We debated whether or not to take the Metro in (parking at the zoo is very limited and VERY expensive) or just find street parking. Since parking is free on weekends we decided to try to find street parking. Luckily I have a husband who is very familiar with that area and we were able to find a spot only a few blocks from the Zoo. The zoo opens pretty early (6:00am!), but a lot of the animals aren't out and the buildings don't open until 10:00am, so that is about the time we arrived.
When we first got there we decided to head to the Pandas so we could see the new baby Panda. As we were making our way there we stopped by the first animal we saw. As Jonathan was pointing out all the birds (not even part of the exhibit) a bee flew into his sandal and stung him!! Poor Jonathan started crying immediately. I took his shoe off and the bee was still in there. This being his first bee sting I of course initially worried about allergies, but luckily that was not the case. His foot got real red and a little swollen so we decided to head to the First Aid area to get an ice pack and make sure the stinger wasn't still in his foot and to see if there was anything else we could do. Unfortunately the First Aid Station is at the VERY END of the park!! It seemed to take FOREVER to get there. We got there and medic lady was real nice. Cleaned his foot and made sure the stinger wasn't in there. Then she put some numbing medicine there and gave us an ice pack. As we were leaving another little girl was coming in with bee sting. By the time we finished that adventure I felt like it was time to leave!!
Just down from the First Aid Station was the Kid's Farm where they can see- and even touch- cows, donkeys, goats, alpacas, and hogs.
After the Kid Farm we headed to American Trail. This was our favorite area of the zoo from last year. We loved watching the California Sea Lions and Jonathan LOVED the little tide pool area where you can play in the water and watch the "tide" go in and out.
Even Zachary enjoyed himself a little bit! He loved splashing in the water.
Unlike last year, though, Jonathan seemed a little scared of the "tidal wave" that would come and fill the area with water (you can see last year's video here. It was much more crowded this year and lots of the kids would scream when the water came out so I think that freaked him out just a little bit.
As we were leaving we stopped to see the lions, elephants, zebras, monkeys, birds, and of course the carousel. We were a little rushed since it had taken so long to get down to the First Aid station and now it was WAAAAYY past nap time and the kiddos were reaching their limit!
By the time we got back to the car, mom, dad, and the kids were pooped from such a fun and long morning at the zoo!
You can tell how tired he is as I'm trying to keep him awake. I was unsuccessful and he fell asleep within minutes of me filming that video! ;)
oh no, a bee sting :(
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