We learned that Hunter would not have Kindergarten today due to the school’s first Student Enrichment Day. I am  beginning to understand that students will be able to have a few of these days where they can learn virtually when there is inclement weather, etc. We logged into his Google classroom and did some fun activities. BUT FIRST, we spent our day at the Indianapolis Zoo. And what an enriching day we had.

This was my and Wyatt’s first trip although my parents have taken the older boys 3 times in the past couple of years. Josh won 2 tickets at a golf benefit recently and with Hunter having the day off and the weather looking perfect, I made a decision just last night to go with my Mom!

We started off at the “Ocean” which included fish, sharks, penguins and dolphin exhibits. A clownfish, “Nemo” caught Wyatt’s eye and he tried to grab him through the glass. Hunter pet a shark and Deacon loved the fuzzy hair on the little penguins. The dolphin exhibit is beautiful but we missed the show this time.

We then made our way to lunch, the playground, got the boys ice cream and to visit all of the monkeys. We met a 40 year old mommy orangutan, Kim, and her 2 year old baby, Max. Next we saw a few of my favorites including lemurs, zebras, giraffes, antelope and baboons. The boys climbed some rocks in the beautifully landscaped gardens and in between exhibits. We saw lions, cheetahs, and an enormous tiger- oh my! The rhinos, elephants and flamingos were all fascinating too.

At this point, it was getting well past Deacon’s nap time and he was letting it show. And Hunter was obviously tired as well. We quickly saw all of the reptiles including snakes, turtles and lizards. It was time to go but we were able to see most of the zoo in about 4 hours. Wyatt was a trooper and we used the stroller and carried him a bit to show him some of the animals too. I’m so grateful Mom was there with us. What an amazing day we had!

The Indianapolis Zoo is beautiful, well cared for and maintained and definitely clean. There were many informative signs, volunteers and exhibits that I would have loved to spend time to read, listen and learn more. Maybe when they’re older… We can’t wait to go back!

Also, the boys decided to bring their own binoculars this morning! What a smart idea, I thought. I asked Deacon to use them so that he could let me know if the zeebra was white with black stripes or black with white stripes.  The verdict? 

“White. White with brown stripes, Mom.”