Just What We Needed

Yesterday I surprised Ryder and took him to the zoo. It's about an hour and a half from us so it was an adventure for just the two of us. We'd never traveled that far alone for the day before so I was a little nervous once we left the house. But half way there he looked at me from the backseat and said "mama" so sweetly and then blew me a kiss. I knew at that moment that it would be a great day! I had never been to the zoo any other time than spring or summer and I must say that the zoo in November (here in the midwest) is my absolutely favorite time to go! Not only were the crowds small, there were no lines for any exhibit, no lines for the restrooms, no lines for food, and there were tons of staff bored out of their minds and ready to talk and play! All of the animals were out and very interested in us or their food. We got to see animals that I haven't gotten to see in years! The weather was perfect, not too chilly and mostly sunny. The leaves were beautifully colored and they were decorating for Christmas! That may have me wanting to go visit next month in the cold. Maybe. I didn't take more than what would fit in my small purse and I was perfectly fine with parking the stroller at one train station and hopping off to see animals at the complete opposite end of the zoo. Ryder had such a good time and listened so well. We spent nearly five hours there just the two of us!

I did manage to capture a few photos but for the most part I kept my phone put away. It was amazing how much more fun I had not obsessing over capturing every little detail. We bought wristbands that allowed us to ride the train and carousel, and visit the children's zoo as many times as we wanted. Of course we spent nearly two hours riding the train but he giggled the whole time. And I loved being able to say "yes" to nearly everything he wanted. My favorite part about the trip was that since it wasn't busy I let him lead most of the time. I pushed the stroller behind him or he would walk next to me and he chose what animals we looked at and what activities we did. I definitely need to do this more often.