Anyway, after we all got up, fed, dressed, etc - I called my neighbor to see if she still wanted to join us and we all get ready to go. It took a little while to get 4 kids (my 3 plus hers) dressed, packed, loaded, into the van along with tending to the dogs, loading the strollers, the stuff, the kitchen sink - er no we left that at home. You get the idea. Taking ONE toddler anywhere for more than a couple hours usually requires a small armament of "just in case" items (which is why moms carry around bulging diaper bags even after their kid is no longer in diapers). Now multiply that by 3 (Jadzia, thankfully, doesn't require too much extra anymore) and you're taking half of Babies R Us "just in case".
Getting to the zoo was quick, we even found free parking which is almost impossible in the Waikiki area. Even better it was free parking close to the zoo entrance. SCORE! Almost as soon as we were inside the gates, Anya started fussing to be fed. A kind zoo employee told us about a nice secluded and shady spot near the tigers so we made a beeline for that, zipping by a lot of chattery birds, the elephants and some monkeys (don't worry we stopped by to see them on the way back out later). We found the place she indicated which would have been secluded if one of the 3 tiger cubs hadn't curled up to sleep near the fence right there thus drawing a small crowd of on lookers. But I'm not bothered by nursing in public so I was discreet as possible (despite Anya trying to rip the blanket off my shoulder constantly) and fed her in front of the tigers. Jadzia and Inara were perfectly happy with this turn of events because it meant they could watch the tigers for awhile.
After the tigers we looped around into the African Savannah where we saw all sorts of your favorite zoo inhabitant. While we were looking at the cheetahs from a small cave like viewing area, Inara made a friend with a little Japanese girl about her age. We left the cave before them and Inara was walking right behind me as we made our way onward. I turned to check a few moments later and was a kid short! I left Jadzia and Anya with our neighbor and darted back to the cave to find Inara hand in hand with her new friend trying to bring them with us apparently. When I tried to urge Inara to say goodbye, she handed her friend the flower she was carrying who then handed it back in an instance of international sharing. It took several moments to make the formal goodbyes between the young ambassadors but everyone went about their way finally. After the momentary panic, it was a very sweet and funny moment.
As we made our way to the Keiki Zoo, we crossed the paths of several free roaming peacocks. They were beautiful and allowed us to get pretty close for some pictures. This would have been especially neat if Jadzia and Inara didn't have an intense desire to touch every bird they see - which means they run up to said birds, who then walk or fly away. They my kids chased the poor peacocks. And it didn't even get them to spread their tail feathers. But, be assured, all the birds at the zoo remained unsullied by my devious munchkins. After petting some livestock, we made a pit stop for drinks and a snack. Anya had fallen asleep so I parked her in the shade and we all rested our feet and recharged.
We didn't make it too far before Anya was up and ready to eat again (once again back near the tigers as we'd completed that loop of the zoo and were heading back). I actually fed her in a very shady tree grove of sorts while the kids played on the branches and got good kid dirty. Finally we were able to back track to see all the things we'd rushed by on the way inside including the lemurs, monkeys, tortoises, elephants, etc. One particular monkey was so busy swinging around his exhibit I could barely get a picture of him. He was probably one of the most active animals we saw, he definitely looked like he was having a good time.
Most of the day, Inara was walking behind on her slow little 2 year old legs but once we hit the elephants it was like she suddenly got bit by a speed bug because she was off and running with Jadzia trying to keep up. Since the zoo wasn't crowded I kept pace with them but let them get some good running in as we wound our way back to the front. We made a quick stop by the gift shop (of course!) and then returned to the car. We managed to hit the highway with intense traffic so it took us almost 40 minutes to go about 8 miles. After that initial snails pace though, it picked up and the rest of the drive home was quick. All four kids fell asleep AFTER we got through the traffic (so the last 20 minutes or so of the drive).
All in all it was a fun day! I have a couple of pictures of the kids edited to share tonight. Tomorrow I should have the rest edited so look for a photo blog tomorrow!
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