Zoo Party

On Saturday, July 17, the boys went to their first birthday party at the Zoo for their friend J.P. who was turning three. It was so much fun! The party was at the Zoo's Wee Play Center -- an indoor facility with several rooms, including a commissary, barn, vet clinic, puppet stage and reptile area. The boys mainly stayed in the kitchen (or commissary as it was labeled) and enjoyed making meals and chopping food. After lots of free play and visits from small zoo animals, the party guests enjoyed pizza, cake and ice cream. Noah managed to stick his finger in the birthday cake before it was lit though! The best part was a special appearance by Einstein, the Zoo's famous talking parrot. She sang "Happy Birthday" and answered several questions for the kids. After that we headed to the carousel and then the big play area where the boys played and got more sweaty than I've ever seen them. We quickly made it through the Safari part of the Zoo to see the elephants, zebras and giraffes, but a pre-nap meltdown ensued and we made a dash for the car. Brenton fell asleep in his stroller while Eric carried a crying Noah on his shoulders. Both slept the whole way home. It was a great time and fun way to celebrate J.P.'s birthday and Brenton's first trip to the Zoo!

The commissary was really neat. The boys enjoyed "making dinner" and going shopping for groceries.

Different varieties of animal hats were used as party favors - a very cute idea! Noah wanted a tiger and Brenton got a giraffe.

Brenton's first ride on the carousel.

Noah chose to ride the "big gorilla."

The African Safari exhibit is my favorite. Noah enjoyed watching the elephants too.

Brenton tried to keep up, but fell asleep in his stroller. We have a picture of Noah in this same stroller at this exact spot (Black Bear Falls) during his first trip to the Zoo in the summer of '09.