Labor Day Weekend Stay-cation

On the Saturday before Labor Day, we decided to do something as a family We weren't going out of town so we decided to have a stay-cation and went to the Topeka Zoo. It's a great zoo for family with children because it is small and well shaded (I'm pretty sure I've said this lots of times). The weather was gorgeous! We were trying to decide whether to go on Saturday or Monday (Labor Day). I'm glad we chose Saturday, (a), because of the nicer weather (Monday was hot), and (b), because I was sick on Monday and Chris was suffering from major allergies. Here are some pics (with captions) of our day.
Here's Chris and the girls, oh wait, can't say that anymore! Here's Chris with the kids getting ready to tour the zoo.
Here's Jake first time facing out in his carrier - first time with Daddy carrying him. So cute! Jake did very well. He took a cat nap and seemed content most of the day. I've noticed he likes being outside for the most part.
The girls making silly faces saying, "take a picture!"
I guess we went on a day where they were celebrating an anniversary or something so that had a big to-do with the elephant enclosure. The elephants were "painting" canvases that you could purchase. I have a few thoughts on this. Yes, elephants are wonderful, fascinating animals - really, they are. However, they weren't really "painting" like I've seen on tv. Ok, fine. That's ok. These elephants paint with their snouts? or the end of their trunks. They would pick up the paint from the tray and then paint a little on the canvas (one elephant just wanted to eat the paint and smear it on himself...must have been a toddler-elephant), then the trainers had the "blow" on to the canvas too - a type of splatter-painting I suppose. All I have to say is GROSS! I'm sorry but while I'm happy to support the zoo by purchasing my ticket, I can't make myself purchase a canvas of elephant snot that wasn't really painted as much as it was sneezed on. I'll save my $20 - $100 for something else - like concessions. or not....but enough about elephant "painting"! ;)
"Elephant snot for sale. Get your elephant snot!"
Ava and Elise thought it was cool and walked along the fence to view the artwork or snotwork if you will. Ok. I'll stop.

Looky - here! One of the giraffes wanted to either spy or get in on the action. I thought this was a cute pic of the girls looking at the tall little guy.
One neat thing was that a baby hippo had been born a few weeks prior to our visit. Look closely and you can see him by his mama. We stood and watched for a while so we could catch a glimpse of him between his hiding behind mama and lying on the ground.
We got to see a rather famous little giraffe up close that day. Hope, is a young female giraffe born with a hoof deformity. She has special shoes made every four weeks to help remedy the problem. We got to see them muzzle her and then give her medicine. It was interesting because there was quite a crowd gathering with lots of little children, watching as the corralled the giraffe into the area. We were all admiring this beautiful creature when one of the zookeepers whipped out a muzzle and started wrestling with the giraffe to get it on her. There were definitely some gasps and dropped jaws, especially from children, because it looked like they were hurting her. I explained to my girls what was happening and the Hope didn't like taking medicine just like they sometimes don't.

After the zoo, we went to another favorite spot, Gage Park. We played at the park for a while while Chris and Jake waited in line for the train. We got to ride the train (counter-clockwise this time), and had a lot of fun. After that, we finished off our staycation by eating at The Olive Garden. Sometimes it is hit or miss - this time it was good.