Zoo Pumpkin Bash

Today we made our annual trip to the Woodland Park Zoo Pumpkin Bash. It has become a tradition of sorts to dress the kids up in adorable Halloween costumes & spend a few hours outdoors surrounded by nature & animals every October. We weren't brave enough to test the limits of 10-month-old Jacob, so he stayed at home with my Mom. Of course, we had to take a few rides on the 1918 historic wooden carousel with hand-carved horses & visit Gerritt's favorite meerkats. We all got quite a show from diving pinguins. We made a mistake of renting a single occupancy stroller so Gerritt & Sophia kept arguing whose turn it was to ride (the arguing got more intense & loud around the kids' nap time). It turned out to be one of those gorgeous sunny fall days. It began to rain only in late afternoon allowing us plenty of time to enjoy the festivities. The combination of light, beautiful natural surroundings & Halloween-inspired decorations make the Woodland Park Zoo one of my favorite places to photograph the kids in the fall. Even though she had the choice of wearing the monkey & bumble bee costumes, Sophia insisted on being the butterfly again, just like last year. Gerritt wore the dragon costume I bought almost 2 years ago & was saving while waiting for him to grow into it.

Another dragon!

Gerritt is ready for fun!

Sophia & Mommy riding the carousel

So happy!

Riding the monkey

Gerritt's favorite meerkats

Gerritt & gorilla

Sophia & lion

Pinguins!

Halloween magic

Beautiful fall day

My cute dragon

Surprise found in the woods

Happy Halloween!

Some of the Halloween decorations at our house


Kids helping Daddy to carve the pumpkins

This Halloween, rather than going trick-or-treating & then fighting to pry candy out of our kids' hands, we've decided to take them to the Pumpkin Bash at the Woodland Park Zoo. The Zoo offered a special discount - 1 child in a Halloween costume could enter for free with a paying adult. Weather cooperated with us again as there was not a drop of rain all day & the sun was shining brightly. We arrived to the Zoo at around 11 am & stayed until 3 pm. Sophia slept in her stroller for at least 1.5 hours (she always sleeps longer outdoors) & Gerritt did not mind one bit delaying his afternoon nap by a couple of hours.


Gerritt & Sophia posing for photos


Happy girl Sophiichka (Софиичка) (the endearing version of Sophia in Russian - that's how I like to call her)


Gerritt & Daddy


Gerritt, Sophia & Mommy

It was our 5th trip to the Zoo this year, however, this outing was different. The Zoo was overflowing with parents & children all dressed up in various costumes. Gerritt was dressed as a monkey while Sophia wore a pink butterfly costume. Their costumes were made out of fleece & doubled greatly as outdoor clothes, keeping the kids warm. The Old Navy costumes usually run at $22.50 a piece, however, I bought both of Gerritt & Sophia's outfits for $5.47 (!) each a week after last year's Halloween.
We've attended multiple pumpkin "animal enrichment" activities to observe a repertoire of animal behavior as various zoo animals crunched, smashed or stomped on pumpkins. Gerritt announced that he wanted to see only cranes & pinguins since they were his favorite. I could not convince him to see any other animals without him crying even though we were almost inches away from an elephant. No amount of persuasion could get Gerritt out of his stroller so I had to suffice with admiring the elephant on my own & taking photos to share with Gerritt later, when he would be in a better mood.


We took a little detour on our way to visit Gerritt's favorite animals & happened to observe hippos & sun bears snacking on pumpkins as well as a variety of other animals out & about. When we finally reached the penguins they looked busy trying to pry little fish carefully inserted into the small holes in a pumpkin.


A hippo crunching a pumpkin


Gerritt's favorite - pinguins!


A bear enjoying a pumpkin as well - who knew?


Beautiful flamingos

The highlight of the day was watching a performance of high school kids wearing zombie costumes & dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Of course, Gerritt & I had to ride the Carousel again while Daddy watched sleeping Sophia & also stop by the balloon animal maker to buy Gerritt a yellow balloon giraffe.
Gerritt played the monkey role perfectly running & climbing all over the Zoo.


Our little monkey!


Sophia loved being chased by Gerritt, "Catch me...


... if you can!"

Upon returning home he took his biggest nap EVER - from 4 pm on Sunday to 8 am on Monday (16 hours straight)! Gerritt slept through all of the trick-or-treaters who visited our house later that night & even Spike's barking. He fell asleep while holding onto his balloon giraffe, & I could not help but smile when I carefully took the giraffe out of his hands when getting into bed later that night.
We might have outdone ourselves this year with the house Halloween decorations, pumpkin carving & the kids costumes. Prior to having kids our Halloween consisted of buying candy so we could give something to the dressed up trick-or-treaters stopping by. The outdoor lights were turned off as soon as the candy ran out. This year it's a different story... My perception of this holiday's importance has certainly changed since becoming a Mom & I have Gerritt & Sophia to thank! :-)

Zoo Trip - Take 4

Playing with the hippo


With the lion


The orangutan - a new discovery on this trip!


"Show your teeth!" Gerritt has mastered the standard American smile (but not keeping eyes open at the same time)

Yesterday we spent another day at the Woodland Park Zoo. The forecast predicted rain, but we've decided to take a risk & head out of the house anyways. It turned out to be a gorgeous sunny & warm fall day & we were not disappointed in spending another day outdoors. In the morning, my friend dropped off her 2 girls for an entire day, so my nanny & I were confident in being able to handle 4 kids on a field trip.
This was my 4th Zoo trip this year. I don't know for sure why I enjoy our Zoo so much. I never leave fully satisfied (like "I've seen everything there is to see") & there is almost a gravitational pull to bring me back for yet another visit. Maybe it's being outdoors & feeling one with nature due to the proximity of wild animals all around me? Or maybe it's the fact that I never get tired of seeing happiness on Gerritt's face when he meets a new animal for the first time? Maybe it's the several hours I have to spend walking & exploring? Or the knowledge of winter's proximity & the anticipation of many days I have to spend indoors? It's probably a little bit of everything.


Snack time!


In the boat


The closest I've been able to get to a giraffe

Woodland Park Zoo - take 3

A ride on Gerritt's favorite carousel


Inside the turtle shell


Gorillas - mother & baby (cosleeping at its best)


Inside the cave

It was another slow Monday & I was wondering again what to do with the kids. The weather forecast promised a sunny day in the 70s. So when I gave Gerritt a choice of Woodland Park Zoo, library or the Kelsey Creek Farm this morning, he chose the Zoo.
It was our 3rd Zoo visit this year & for only $10 ($5 parking & $5 entry fee with the Microsoft Prime Card (instead of the usual $16.50)) we bought ourselves 5 hours of great outdoor adventure. We spent about $20 on food, but it made me feel better knowing that part of the proceeds benefit the Zoo. We arrived at the Zoo at 10 am & stayed until 2:30 pm, hard to believe. Weather did a trick on us by sprinkling for about an hour, however, the sun came out later, as was promised.
We visited our favorite jaguars & gorillas & also visited different Zoo areas. We saw the komodo dragons, the bug exhibit, sloths, & pink flamingoes. Sophia slept blissfully for at least 1.5 hours so we got lucky. Gerritt's favorite part of the trip was the Farm & the farm animals. He got to pet the goats & the miniature donkey. He also "rode" the tractor & watched a video of a chick hatching.


Beautiful flamingos - a miracle in the Northwest


Gerritt petting a goat


Gerritt riding the tractor

While at the Zoo, we had another "pooping" adventure. Gerritt got the urge to go "poo poo" while at the outdoor park. There were no restrooms nearby so I just told him to squat & go on the grass. Luckily, there was no one around to criticize me for bad parenting, or give us both the dirty looks, so Gerritt was able to poop in peace. I then discreetly disposed of the evidence by picking it up with a wet wipe & putting it in the garbage. It's funny to write about this now, but I was really panicking at the time. The only way to prevent such incidents with a potty training toddler is to stay home, which is not realistic. So I often have to get creative. This reminds of another Mom's blog entry about the joys of using a public restroom with 2 kids. It's certainly not a walk in the park.

Gerritt's Zoo Trip - Day 2

The gorillas (mother & baby)


Gerritt kissing gorilla's bronse statue


The lemurs


A beautiful bird from the tropics


Gerritt hugging a fox's statue (He is quite affectionate!)


Feeding of the penguins


A parrot


Another ride on the carousel

We had so much fun visiting the zoo on Sunday, Gerritt & I decided to do it again 2 days later (thanks to the free yearly pass provided by Gerritt's Russian daycare owner Tamara). Sophia stayed at home with her nanny Irina, allowing us a certain kind of freedom.
We've spent about 3.5 hours this time & explored a different part of the zoo. It is impossible to see all of the exhibits in one day due to the zoo's size, so another day of exploration is a must. We visited the African savanna again (my favorite part of the zoo) where we saw gorillas including the baby & zebras. We were in the rain forest where we observed all kinds of exotic birds in a sauna-like environment. We saw the beautiful peacock once more (he was in a different part of the zoo, looks like he moves around). Gerritt really wanted to see the meerkat exhibit again, so we've spent about 20 minutes observing & laughing at them (they are just adorable!).
The new animals we saw on this trip were kangaroos & emu birds (both from the Australian continent). We visited the endangered snow leopard & the lemurs. We also visited the bird sanctuary full of strikingly colored parrots. I even bought a bird seed feeding stick, which resulted in one parrot sitting on my shoulder & another one on my arm. Gerritt was too afraid to hold the bird seed stick, so he just observed from a distance.
We took a couple of rides on the historic carousel & then spent some time observing the feeding of the penguins. After scrumptious lunch we headed back home for another long nap in the afternoon. Gerritt insisted on walking everywhere at the zoo so fell asleep easily & without his usual book reading. Another fun day to get summer off to the right start!