So this morning I decided that rather than pick up after kids all day on a Saturday when it is most likely that people will come to look at the house (did I mention that our house is on the market -- that is why I am MIA) . . . I would go to the zoo. I looked at the costs and decided it would be a better plan for me to become a card carrying member of the zoo, so I paid my $70 and now the kids and I can go anytime for free for a year. I decided that it was better because with how hot it is in Phoenix, it will be nice to be able to just go to the zoo for a couple hours in the morning and not have to worry about paying $26 in admission for one time and wasting our money if we only went for an hour or two. This way, we can come and go as we please. 
We had a lot of fun. I got a bit of a sunburn while we were waiting for the train to depart, however, a little aloe gel will take care of that. The kids were totally sunblocked, so they were fine.We got to see the rhinoceros up really close. It was rare but he was sitting in the corner right by the fence. J exclaimed "he's big" which made me smile. I took their picture and you can see a little bit of the rhino over the fence behind them. This was not the first shot I took because I was trying to get them both to look, so that is why J is climbing on the fence . . . he was ready to go see another animal.
We saw the gazelles really close up too. The kids thought they were really neat. I liked how their tails seemed to spin almost . . . they were a neat animal. E and J were both hanging on the bars on this one like they wanted to jump in the cage with them any minute. It even made one of the older ones on alert and watching us.
The otters were sleeping by the time we got to them. It was a hot one in Phoenix today. Not only have we had heat, but the humidity here right now is AWFUL! Anyway, I took one picture where the two otters were sleeping by the log, and then the otter woke up and looked at me and I could not resist snapping this second photo of him. Apparently I disturbed his slumber with my flash. Oh well, he will get over it. He was pretty cute!
Here is a picture of my cute kids on the train. Both of them are pink, but not from sunburn but from the heat. We drank a lot of water while we were on the train and they looked better after. We then went and played in their little splash play area and the kids got really cooled off. They had such a great day at the zoo. I am so glad that we went. I am also excited to go back again with them soon in the next few months. The weather will be better for it by the end of September. It was 97 degrees at 2 pm when we left the zoo and I am glad we went home then. My two little sweeties are taking a much deserved nap -- all that walking around the zoo tired them right out.
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