Zoo Friends

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day!! We peeled ourselves out of bed when Dylan decided it was time to get up, and Ryan made us Rollie Pollies and bacon for breakfast. Then we packed ourselves up and headed to the ZOO! Ryan surprised Dylan and I with a Zoo Friends membership for the year. We were so excited to spend some time outside, take D to see all the animals for the first time, and give Ryan an opportunity to use his awesome new lens.

We got to the zoo - Dylan in a super cute new summer outfit - only to find out he had a blowout on the drive over! (You remember what those look like right?) *gulp* The awesome cargo tray in the Mommy Mobile is a life(back)saver when it comes to diaper changes. Grandma and Grandpa babysat critter last night, and they fed him a smorgasbord of yummy fruits. Saving you the gruesome details, that never looks good coming out the other end. 1000 wipes later he was clean enough to sit up and de-clothe. At which point in time he took the opportunity to pee...all over my car. By this time, all we could do was break into hysterical laughter. Oh the joys :)

So we had an eventful start to the zoo to say the least! The weather was perfect, so the zoo was packed! We got to use a ZF perk from the get-go, and zoomed past the giant line to the members entrance. Don't we feel fancy?! Yes! Almost all the animals were out to say hello. Here are a few ton of our favorite shots from the day!

After several days of cold and clouds, it was great to spend the day in the sunshine. We slathered the kid up in sunblock and basked in the warmth! Dylan was happy as could be, he enjoyed looking at the animals, but loved looking at all the little kids even more. Other little people really make Dylan pretty happy. He hummed happy noises and whipped his head from side to side taking in all the new sights. He did however refuse to smile for a single picture all day!

Ryan got some of the.most.amazing. captures! I wish I had the space and time to share the full resolution pictures with you. (Don't forget to click on the pictures for a little big bigger of an image!)They are really incredible. He is learning so much about photography and his camera!

This fellow was one of my favorites! Intense, no?

Those eyes are so mesmerizing!

LOVE.

Resting in the shade!

Dylan did so great in his stroller! I am head over heels for babywearing, so we don't pull out the beast very often. It is so much easier to have him with me and have my hands free. [I LOVE my two carriers. I use this & this.] He is also so much happier when snuggled up with one of us!
For quick jaunts and walks around the neighborhood, we use our awesome umbrella stroller that Grandma and Grandpa got us for Christmas and love it! But the Graco has a ton of storage, space and cup holders - perfect for trips like today! Pickle seemed to really enjoy it - he kicked his little feet the whole time!

Ignoring the beautiful lion and checking out the kiddos!

Water break with Daddy

Rhino love?

The detail is so awesome you can almost reach out and touch him!

Spotted this cute little critter in the rain-forest

I love the detail of his cute pink nose

The epitome of relaxation!

Ryan got lots of stares and comments about his camera set up. He looked pretty professional with his gigantic lens. He even got several comments, from "lens envy!" to "um, wow. That's a cool camera dude." I even overheard a girl tell her boyfriend that if he got her a camera like that, she would never ask for anything EVER again!
It was his first time to really test his telephoto lens out, and what a better situation?! The camera bag I got him for his birthday came in quite handy.

I had to snap a few of my photographer in action:

*shudder* Check out those chompers.

After a full day, we headed home - very much looking forward to visiting again!

♥
{I hope you are having a beautiful weekend!}

p.s. if you are reading, please say hello!