A Bunch of Wild Animals

On Friday mom and I took the 4 kiddos to the zoo. This was one of the items the kids said they wanted to do before summer's end. Even though we knew it was going to be hot and miserable we made the decision to go see some animals.
I have not been to the zoo in 2 years and I have to say that the Houston Zoo has greatly improved within that time. There was so much to see and do. There was a booth where you could pay 5 dollars, get three leaves of lettuce and feed the giraffes, there was the children's zoo with exhibits that catered to the younger crowd, (petting zoo, and play structure etc...). There was a dinosaur exhibit with life size mechanical dinos that was pretty cool (I think my favorite part). Of course we cant leave out the lions, tigers, bears, elephants etc. All of these were great fun and the kids really enjoyed it.
As exhaustion and heat really started to sent in we decided that it was the perfect time for the 4-D movie. The movie we chose was about dinosaurs. The kids unanimously voted for this one over Dora and Diego because "Dora and Diego are for babies." From an adult (and Drew) perspective the dinosaur movie was awesome! From a Corry, Calyn and Max perspective it was terrifying and the Dora and Diego movie would have been a much better movie to see. Max screamed the entire movie. 
About 1 minute before the movie was finally going to be over, the doors opened and the lights came on and the movie just shut down. Because of the inconvenience and since we didn't get to finish the movie, they played the entire thing again. It was pure torture for poor Max.
Despite the movie, the zoo was fun and we all had a great time. We did all decide that the next time we go will either be fall or spring when the weather isn't quite so hot.

Just as we arrived at the zoo! Look how fresh they all look.

 Corry feeding a giraffe. Look at that long black tongue

Drew serving up some dinner 

 Max feeding a giraffe. (Max said this was his favorite part of the zoo trip)

 Calyn wasn't too sure about feeding the giraffes. She had a little assistance from Grandma Chebs.

 If only we could keep the kids in bubbles forever....

Here is Drew the groundhog

 Corry the groundhog

 Calyn the groundhog

 Max the groundhog

 Brushing the goats..

 Here are some pictures to give you an idea of how large these dinos were in the dinosaur exhibit. Their heads moved, they made noises and each one had a sign next to it that had information about each dinosaur.

 They were terrifying too. This is my scared / panic face..

 The T-Rex was awesome

Until he tried to eat the kids.

 This bear had the right idea. If he wasn't a dangerous animal I may have joined him in there.

 Enjoying some AC and a drink before hitting the road home.

Kisses from Max

 Cute little Corry. Her hair looks a little more frazzled then when we arrived at the zoo.

 Drewski enjoying some water

 And finally... the car trip home. Poor Calyn couldn't keep her head up. She was EXHAUSTED!