St. Louis Zoo

We have had SO MUCH GOING ON since Millie Janalee's birthday...which is the last event I posted about prior to telling you about her glasses.  Wow!  I have pictures uploaded to blog.  But I have just gotten out of the habit!  Augh.  I've got to get back with it.  It is not because it takes too much time.  Blogging has never taken much time for me.  I spend more time on photos than blogging.  I just get distracted and forget.

So I'll do the best I can to document these super fun days this year in St. Louis.  One very, very HOT Saturday afternoon, Russ and I took Millie Janalee to the St. Louis zoo.  We had heard about how wonderful it was, so we were equally excited.  The zoo is actually free.  Although, you do have to pay to park on the grounds.  There are a few exhibitions and rides that you must pay to do inside the zoo.  The only one we cared about doing was the train.  They also offer family passes if you are a regular so that you can get discounts on those things.

Millie Janalee is familiar with the zoo, since we took her fairly often in Memphis.  But she is now at a fun age where she is really into the animals.  She enjoys making the animal noises and talking or waving to them all.  So fun to do these things through her eyes!

We made several rest stops.  Did I mention how HOT it was?!  Most of the rest stops were for me.  Ha!  And for snacks and juice.  We ate lunch at the cafe on the grounds.  This zoo is much larger than the Memphis zoo.  We will have to go back during the fall, and then I can figure out the comparisons better.  I think things are more spread out...which is nice because you never feel crowded.  Lots of strolling.  The displays are so nice too.  I really enjoyed the day.

During the later half of our day, Millie Janalee spotted the train at the crossing.  It was over.  That was that.  She begged, pleaded, and cried to ride the "choo choo tchwain."  I finally talked Russ into giving in.  And we bought tickets and stood in line.  Then every time a train came and went before we made it to the front of the line, her world fell apart.  I'm not sure how to teach a 2 year old about how lines work other than a real life experience.  In front of everyone.  Ha!  The lady in front of us was kind enough to help us explain that we would indeed try to catch the next one.  Unless there wasn't enough room, of course.  Ha!

We stayed on the train through all four stops until we came back to where we started.  And we had to get off.  That part is never fun.

I think my favorite part was the hippo exhibit.  We were able to watch up close as the hippos swam around the water with the fish. And the fish were equally as entertaining for Millie Janalee.

We arrived home around 3:00 that afternoon exhausted and ready for a change of dry clothes and a nap.  This is when I let Millie Janalee nap without her shorts on and I woke up to a surprise.  She learned how to take her diaper off.  Yep.  So we changed bedding too!

Just another fun day of our Missouri adventure!