A Mommy Blog About Raising Men, Not Boys.
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Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Adventures In Grant Park

Well we were up early for a day of adventure this Sunday, and while Ria's Bluebird may have the best pancakes in America per the New York Times, it also has a wait an hour long apparently and that just doesn't work so well for our little guys. Luckily the husband did a little reading up about other places to eat in the area and found us a PERFECT spot for Sunday Brunch - Dakota Blue.
I have to say everything was really tasty. Let me HIGHLY recommend the Grand Marnier french toast, it was ridiculous. I'm not sure the last time I saw Miles eat so much food. It was really tasty. It looks like such a little hole in the wall, it's really the last place I'd fall into with my family but there were lots of other families in there. It was a really nice surprise.
This ridiculous painting was on the wall. It makes me love the place even more.

After brunch we set off for our destination - ZOO ATLANTA. Our local libraries have a deal where there is a video about the zoo you can check out, and after you watch it and watch the quiz about it you can then return it for FOUR Zoo passes. So we only had to buy two and hope the weather cooperated. It was raining when we arrived, and a little cold and dreary.
A before and after at the zoo, separated by four years. In a couple more years they won't fit at all. That amazes me.

One of the things I always find interesting about going out with all of my little guys is what THEY like. For instance, Miles and Julia always want to do one of these photo ops whenever they see one. They both think they are funny and will run right over to it without being asked to.

Charlie was very interested in the giraffes, but at the end of the day when I asked him what he liked best he said TIGER very loudly. So maybe it was the tiger.

For me one of the most interesting things was the gorilla exhibit and they've got really nice big habitats for them, it's pretty impressive. It might be because we've got a major primate research center near us. They definitely don't seem to have as much room as I think they should have for the elephants.
"Draw me like one of your French girls," Louis said upon walking into the glass observation area of the exhibit. This gorilla is actually shielding her baby from our eyes. We sat and watched them all of quite a while, it was a thriving family unit here closest to us. They all sign (omg you know how that freaks me out) and the mothers snuggled their babies close. If you can say they don't love their children you aren't watching them. They fiercely love their children. They are pretty amazing creatures.
The tiger Charlie was so fond of was walking around ROARING like a nut. It actually sounded like he had a hairball and was mad about it. We couldn't tell exactly what was his complaint. It really did seem like something was wrong but it was hard to tell what he needed, other than to possibly eat us.
Some animals were just too boring to be entertaining for too long. I guess all zoo exhibits are not created equal for five year olds.
Lions on the other hand, are awesome and so of course those garner our full attention. LIONS!
We made a short lunch stop and enjoyed the cool breeze and warm day. It had stopped raining shortly after we got there so we got really lucky - because pretty much all of Alabama was covered in rain which means it was coming our way.
I am never NOT impressed by the fact that we have pandas, and that seeing them is routine around here. THEY ARE PANDAS PEOPLE OMG BEHOLD PANDAS. They're adorable and beautiful and amazing, and of course super dangerous and will rip off your face and eat it.
Our original plan when we arrived was to bust a move straight to the reptile house (MY LEAST FAVORITE PLACE) but it's indoors and we decided it would be a good place to wait out the rain. However the rain downgraded to mist and then stopped. We eventually got there, and discovered they have built a whole NEW reptile house since we were last there. The new one was actually quite lovely despite being full of horrible snakes. Cobra? Black mamba? OMG kill them with fire. I hate snakes.

Mom said the story of Louis life could be told in the photos of the carousels he's ridden. Every time we get on a carousel I think of her saying that. She laughed when she said it, and she's right, we rarely pass up a carousel. He's 13 and I am pretty sure we're very close to that age where he's too cool to ride.

I, however, will never be.

My life needs more carousels, and tigers, and lions, and great apes.

I need more everything.

I had some point I was going to write about when I started this post but then I spent two mornings trying to make my internet do what I wanted and now I've lost the thread. So, behold, we went to the zoo. And there was great rejoicing.


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