A Day of Firsts

We have been experiencing a lot of "firsts" lately...
we've had our first poop in the potty,
Brenna slept all night in her big girl bed,
I joined my first masters swim club,
Hayden put on his pants all by himself (although it was hard to walk with both legs through one hole....)

But the event I am going to write about is our first family outing at the zoo!
Yes, the kids have been to the zoo  before, but this was our first time tackling it as a family unit.

It may seem weird to visit the zoo in July, but we had a pass that was about to expire.
And, to lure people in during one of the hottest months of the year, the zoo hauled in a bunch of snow.

The word "snow" in Phoenix is such an anomaly that always draws a crowd.

I was stoked that the kids were going to see snow for the first time!  And even more stoked that I didn't have to drive them hours or fly them anywhere for it to happen.

But I have to say, to call this "snow" is quite a stretch.

At best, it was dirty ice.

The kids were not interested, to say the least.  

At best, they were indifferent.

I tried to get them out of the stroller to engage them.  Hayden flat out refused.

Brenna only appeased me under the condition that her precious feet did not have to touch the ground.

It's hard to tell in this picture but we are wearing our matching running skirts.                                                  This is not the first time we have worn them, but it is the first time she wanted to wear them. Usually, I have to beg. And then I get denied.

After the snow debacle, we decided to stay and see some animals.

The kids were very satisfied with the monkeys. The zoo has a little walk-in area that is overtaken by small monkeys. They literally come right by your head (David had to be reminded by a zoo-keeper to keep 3 feet of distance).

We also saw flamingos.  I found this to be noteworthy because I had never seen a flamingo before.

Even though it was 100-degrees, the snow was nasty, and we were dripping in sweat, the kids were the epitome of well-behaved toddlers.  If the heat did bother them, they sucked it up.

We belong in Arizona.

And without snow.