Cousin Zoo Trip

April 12 & 13:  Jason & Trista, Jadyn, and Jaren came to visit for a weekend.  They arrived around 9 on Friday night and the kids had a blast running around and playing for as long as we would let them!  On Saturday we packed lots of adventure into our day.  We started with a girl's trip to the American Girl Doll Store...

 

It was a quick trip--Jadyn had money saved to get some new things and Sadie took some of her remaining birthday money to pick out something new for her doll.  She also enjoyed a surprise summer outfit from Aunt Trista!  Macey loved going along for the trip--she can't wait until it's her turn for a doll!

The guys stayed home and Jason helped Marc put new brakes on our van.  When they were done, they met us at the Zoo!  We enjoyed using our zoo passes to get all of us in for free (and free parking!)  In just 2 trips, we've already recouped the value we paid for our pass!  We started with a picnic lunch and then went to check out the seasonal "Dinosaurs Alive" exhibit...

 

The exhibit was mostly outside, but also had a tent with dino-skeletons and birds...

Macey was truly terrified of the BIG dinosaurs!

She was crying!

 After the dinosaurs we checked out the Swamp building, the monkey house, and the penguins.  We also laughed a lot at Jaren and Kinnick attempting to chase the peacocks (until they got in trouble!)

 

Jaren was super excited for a trip to Chuck E. Cheese because he wasn't sure if it was real...  We stopped on our way home from the zoo and it was PACKED.  We decided not to eat but still let the kids play games.  

They had fun playing for about an hour and collecting lots of fun prizes...

After a fun-filled (and exhausting) day it was home for pizza and a movie--perfect ending to our day!  We all went to church the next morning and Jadyn and Jaren stayed for Kinnick's soccer game.  As always, the kids had a blast with their cousins.  We wish we lived closer so we could hang out more often!