We tackled the National Zoo today. It was a great time and since we only had one major temper tantrum, I'd say it was a huge success too.
We got to the zoo right when they opened at 10:00am. Our strategy was to park at the bottom, and start off at the top, working our way back down. This way, we'd knock out the big, ugly hill (almost a mile in length) at the beginning when we'd be most up to the challenge. We have a sit-n-stand stroller that we pull out on these exact occasions to move both children from point A to B to C to D to E and so forth. Normally, Ian is not big on using a stroller, but the minute he knows walking is involved (and a hill no less), all of a sudden his legs don't work. We instantly cut off any potential whining from the get-go and make everyone happier all around that he has a place to rest his feet while enjoying our outing.
That screaming you heard at 11:45am wasn't a new wild animal exhibit on display, it was our 4 year old son being convinced he needed to eat the other half of his peanut butter sandwich before getting any treats he had his eye on. We packed a picnic lunch and around 11:30am Ian said he was getting hungry. We made our way to some park benches and began eating. We already promised Ian we'd get ice cream on our way out, as a last stop before getting back into the car. In our walk up the hill, he noticed popcorn being popped at one of the many food vendors the zoo offers. Ian asked if he could get popcorn and we both said, if you eat the entire peanut butter sandwich, we will get popcorn. Getting Ian to eat peanut butter sandwiches has been a bit of a battle for us. Usually for lunch he'll ask for pizza bagels, or noodles or a hot dog; not really the type of food you can easily pack in a picnic setting. And, now that he is going to camp and then pre-k for 5 days a week, it would sure make things easier to be able to include a peanut butter sandwich every now and then. We've successfully gotten to the point where he'll eat half of it without an argument, but then he'll finish eating the other stuff in his lunch (goldfish, cheez-its, etc.) or drink his juice/water mix until he feels full.
As Ian is throwing his screaming fit, Jeff and I did nothing to stop him. I mean, if you can't scream at the top of your lungs at the zoo, then where can you? We completely ignored him and continued eating our lunch as if nothing unusual was going down. Every mom and dad walking by smiled and nodded in our direction giving us a silent thumbs up. The screaming lasted about 5 minutes and Ian finally realized he wasn't getting his way and said he'd finish the other half. Score one for mommy and daddy!
Of course, our plan to start at the top and work our way back down the hill backfired and we had to go right back up and get the popcorn. At which point we pass the Panda exhibit for a 2nd time and asked Ian again if he wanted to go see the Pandas. No, was his answer. Apparently Ian wanted to see EVERYTHING except the pandas.
The mood seemed to lift and Ian was in great spirits again having gotten his popcorn and Jeff & I were feeling pretty good too having won the food battle. Sam was her amazing self and quite the trooper. She totally skipped her morning nap and you'd never know. In fact, she made it all the way until we got home at 2:45pm, had her bottle and went down for a 1.5 hour nap.
We saw the lions, tigers, cheetahs, gazelles, emus, apes, small mammals, zebras, elephants, rhinos, visited the kids' petting zoo, and of course, got ice cream on the way out. It was a full day and Jeff & I are exhausted from conquering the hill not once, but twice (actually there was a 3rd time we had to back track up the hill again trying to find the outdoor elephant exhibit - but we won't go into too much detail about that) while pushing two kids (combined weight of kids = 63 pounds, stroller = 15 lbs, diaper bag and cooler = 10 lbs) in a double stroller.
As we were leaving the zoo and driving home, Ian says, "I wish we saw the pandas."
We got to the zoo right when they opened at 10:00am. Our strategy was to park at the bottom, and start off at the top, working our way back down. This way, we'd knock out the big, ugly hill (almost a mile in length) at the beginning when we'd be most up to the challenge. We have a sit-n-stand stroller that we pull out on these exact occasions to move both children from point A to B to C to D to E and so forth. Normally, Ian is not big on using a stroller, but the minute he knows walking is involved (and a hill no less), all of a sudden his legs don't work. We instantly cut off any potential whining from the get-go and make everyone happier all around that he has a place to rest his feet while enjoying our outing.
That screaming you heard at 11:45am wasn't a new wild animal exhibit on display, it was our 4 year old son being convinced he needed to eat the other half of his peanut butter sandwich before getting any treats he had his eye on. We packed a picnic lunch and around 11:30am Ian said he was getting hungry. We made our way to some park benches and began eating. We already promised Ian we'd get ice cream on our way out, as a last stop before getting back into the car. In our walk up the hill, he noticed popcorn being popped at one of the many food vendors the zoo offers. Ian asked if he could get popcorn and we both said, if you eat the entire peanut butter sandwich, we will get popcorn. Getting Ian to eat peanut butter sandwiches has been a bit of a battle for us. Usually for lunch he'll ask for pizza bagels, or noodles or a hot dog; not really the type of food you can easily pack in a picnic setting. And, now that he is going to camp and then pre-k for 5 days a week, it would sure make things easier to be able to include a peanut butter sandwich every now and then. We've successfully gotten to the point where he'll eat half of it without an argument, but then he'll finish eating the other stuff in his lunch (goldfish, cheez-its, etc.) or drink his juice/water mix until he feels full.
As Ian is throwing his screaming fit, Jeff and I did nothing to stop him. I mean, if you can't scream at the top of your lungs at the zoo, then where can you? We completely ignored him and continued eating our lunch as if nothing unusual was going down. Every mom and dad walking by smiled and nodded in our direction giving us a silent thumbs up. The screaming lasted about 5 minutes and Ian finally realized he wasn't getting his way and said he'd finish the other half. Score one for mommy and daddy!
Of course, our plan to start at the top and work our way back down the hill backfired and we had to go right back up and get the popcorn. At which point we pass the Panda exhibit for a 2nd time and asked Ian again if he wanted to go see the Pandas. No, was his answer. Apparently Ian wanted to see EVERYTHING except the pandas.
The mood seemed to lift and Ian was in great spirits again having gotten his popcorn and Jeff & I were feeling pretty good too having won the food battle. Sam was her amazing self and quite the trooper. She totally skipped her morning nap and you'd never know. In fact, she made it all the way until we got home at 2:45pm, had her bottle and went down for a 1.5 hour nap.
We saw the lions, tigers, cheetahs, gazelles, emus, apes, small mammals, zebras, elephants, rhinos, visited the kids' petting zoo, and of course, got ice cream on the way out. It was a full day and Jeff & I are exhausted from conquering the hill not once, but twice (actually there was a 3rd time we had to back track up the hill again trying to find the outdoor elephant exhibit - but we won't go into too much detail about that) while pushing two kids (combined weight of kids = 63 pounds, stroller = 15 lbs, diaper bag and cooler = 10 lbs) in a double stroller.
As we were leaving the zoo and driving home, Ian says, "I wish we saw the pandas."
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