We spent today at the zoo in Portland and in bumper to bumper traffic on the freeway. We left the hotel at 10:00am local time, but I-5 was still basically stopped until we got over the huge bridge (6 lanes each way, stacked on top of each other). We came home at 4:00pm, and again, I-5 was stopped all the way from the bridge to our exit. We have reservations on an excursion train at Mount Hood tomorrow, which is 100km outside of Portland, but we will have to go through the traffic to get out of the city, and I'm not certain when we will have to leave in order to make it in time.
Back to the zoo. We arrived, found a parking spot and put the kids in their strollers. The first section we went through had seals, sea otters and tigers, which was a weird combination of animals. Xander really enjoyed watching the tiger - he seems to like the bigger animals. We took a quick stroll through a bird area, where a bird landed on my shoulder (not that I wanted it there, especially as it crapped all over the ground immediately after I shooed it away), took a quick look at some large spiders and spent a little bit of time watching the penguins, which both kids liked.
Our next stop was the zoo railway, which is a small train that runs through the park that the zoo is in. Xander was really excited about the train ride, and it was a very relaxing ride through the forest. Near the end of the ride, Xander was sitting on my lap, and Evan wanted to take his place. He started screaming and I offered him his soother. In a fit of stubbornness, he grabbed it out of my hand and threw it out the train window. Methinks he is truly my son.
It was a long time after lunch when we got off the train, so we stopped for lunch before continuing on through the primate section. It wasn't as big a hit as in the zoo in Idaho Falls, since there was a fence and a window between us and the few monkeys - most of the exhibit was of Amazon creatures - so Evan couldn't walk right up to the monkeys. After the monkeys, we stopped at the elephants, which was another animal that Xander was excited to see. We finished off our tour by seeing a hippo and a giraffe, which Xander specifically requested to see. In the African area, we got to see them feed a couple of tortoises and a lizard, which was pretty cool.
In the same park as the zoo is a test rose garden, which Sandra wanted to go to, since she is determined to see roses on every family vacation we take, and we have yet to see a single rose. The entire garden was not in bloom, but there were some roses, so it was a success. Evan feel asleep on the five minute drive to the rose garden, and stayed asleep when I put him in his stroller, so Sandra and Xander wandered around among the rose bushes, while I stood with Evan. Once Sandra was done in the garden, we returned to our hotel area, grabbed a quick supper and then took the kids to the pool.
We spent today at the zoo in Portland and in bumper to bumper traffic on the freeway. We left the hotel at 10:00am local time, but I-5 was still basically stopped until we got over the huge bridge (6 lanes each way, stacked on top of each other). We came home at 4:00pm, and again, I-5 was stopped all the way from the bridge to our exit. We have reservations on an excursion train at Mount Hood tomorrow, which is 100km outside of Portland, but we will have to go through the traffic to get out of the city, and I'm not certain when we will have to leave in order to make it in time.
Back to the zoo. We arrived, found a parking spot and put the kids in their strollers. The first section we went through had seals, sea otters and tigers, which was a weird combination of animals. Xander really enjoyed watching the tiger - he seems to like the bigger animals. We took a quick stroll through a bird area, where a bird landed on my shoulder (not that I wanted it there, especially as it crapped all over the ground immediately after I shooed it away), took a quick look at some large spiders and spent a little bit of time watching the penguins, which both kids liked.
Our next stop was the zoo railway, which is a small train that runs through the park that the zoo is in. Xander was really excited about the train ride, and it was a very relaxing ride through the forest. Near the end of the ride, Xander was sitting on my lap, and Evan wanted to take his place. He started screaming and I offered him his soother. In a fit of stubbornness, he grabbed it out of my hand and threw it out the train window. Methinks he is truly my son.
It was a long time after lunch when we got off the train, so we stopped for lunch before continuing on through the primate section. It wasn't as big a hit as in the zoo in Idaho Falls, since there was a fence and a window between us and the few monkeys - most of the exhibit was of Amazon creatures - so Evan couldn't walk right up to the monkeys. After the monkeys, we stopped at the elephants, which was another animal that Xander was excited to see. We finished off our tour by seeing a hippo and a giraffe, which Xander specifically requested to see. In the African area, we got to see them feed a couple of tortoises and a lizard, which was pretty cool.
In the same park as the zoo is a test rose garden, which Sandra wanted to go to, since she is determined to see roses on every family vacation we take, and we have yet to see a single rose. The entire garden was not in bloom, but there were some roses, so it was a success. Evan feel asleep on the five minute drive to the rose garden, and stayed asleep when I put him in his stroller, so Sandra and Xander wandered around among the rose bushes, while I stood with Evan. Once Sandra was done in the garden, we returned to our hotel area, grabbed a quick supper and then took the kids to the pool.
3 comments:
I'm sorry, but I had to laugh at Evan's chucking his soother out of the train. Yes, my darling son, he truly is your son and I love you both dearly. Great picture of Xander and the rose!!!
Question for you. Did you guys buy the Rider tickets yet? Just wondering b/c we're trying to plan something and are wondering if July 25 is open or if that's the date you chose. Could you let me know asap? Thanks.
Yes, we got the tickets and they are for the July 25th Edmonton game.
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