Last week we babysat Ryder and Milly. Marley always helps with the little ones and we wanted to thank her. She got to choose our adventure of the day and, of course, she came along.
You see, we decided to entertain Ry and Milly with anything that doesn’t have a screen. Two and four, respectively, they can finagle Youtube. Not that they can search, but once an adult puts in the search terms, they choose and start videos. Ryder also likes to change videos without help. I prefer hands-on activities, which is reasonably easy when planned.
Besides, if you turn off the screens, there’s too much whining. We enticed everyone away from the screens with Adventures with Poppa and DeeDee. The Alexandria Zoo was first on our list.
So we packed up Marley, Ryder and Milly and set off to “see the aminals.” Ryder’s two-year old words are hilarious at times. It’s really hot here in Louisiana, so we left early and tried to beat the heat. It didn’t happen.
However, the snowcone shop is about 3/4 of the way through the walk. Convenient on really hot days. As soon as the shop appeared, Milly noticed that DeeDee “is sweatin’ hot.”
Now concerned about DeeDee, Poppa insisted everyone get a snowcone. The kicker is that I was struggling with the heat. Shaded benches are near the little stand, so we rested, ate snowcones, and talked about all the animals. Then we were off again, pulling the wagon of kiddos.
Thankfully, Marley and Poppa did most of the pulling. DeeDee’s job was to make sure whoever might be out of the wagon didn’t get mixed in with the groups of school children who were also on field trips.
The entire zoo is beautifully shaded. We barely walked in the sun, which helped a great deal with the heat. It’s amazing how much temperature difference the shade provides. Plus, God sent a little breeze–just enough to keep us from overheating. The animals weren’t quite as bothered by the heat. Of course, they have fans, pools, and misters.
The bears played in their pool to cool off. No doubt, they were teasing us. Ryder wanted them to to climb on the log. Ryder really wanted Ryder to play on the log. He pointed back at the bear enclosure several times.
We surprised the kids with McDonald’s on the way home and, although it is not our favorite fast-food place, chicken nuggets filled hungry tummies and prepped everyone for naps. It’s a good thing because Poppa and DeeDee needed naps, too.
