9:16am: Mom wakes up, and reads in bed for a little bit [awesome!]9:35am: Mom takes her time to shower & get ready [heaven...] 10:00am: Avrie wakes up, excited to spend a day having fun with Mommy and Daddy! [BEST part of everyday!]10:30am: Dad makes Avrie and Mom a delicious breakfast [always better when someone makes it for you.]11ish: We pack up the car for an afternoon at the Zoo!!! [PUMPED!]
...a perfect beginning to a fun day!
Aaron , Avrie and I made our way down to Como Park Zoo & Conservatory in St Paul. With it being about 55 degrees & a little bit breezy we thought that it MIGHT not be as busy... well we drove up and it. was. busy! DUH! We lucked out with a really great parking spot and enjoyed our time walking around the animal park & como town- our park treat involved a hot bag of mini donuts, yummmm! The park, over all, really wasn't all that crowded, it was perfect.
This was Avrie's first trip to the zoo and with how much she loves animals, I couldn't wait to see what she thought about everything. We spent a lot of time in the buildings, as the slightly chilled temps of this lovely Mn spring that we are having, still has most of the animals inside.
After about two hours of touring around, we had visited everything the Zoo had offered for the day. It was good timing, with us in need of a late lunch.
We stopped by the Blue Heron in Hugo- had late (half priced) brunch and then headed over to Marine State Park on the St Croix to check things out. With this being about 5 minutes from our house, I am excited for it to be our little hot spot for the summer. Both big kids and little kids parks are REALLY cool! The beach will be perfect for weekends we can't be at the lake and there are a ton of walking paths & trails!
After getting home, we put Avrie down for a late late afternoon nap (that i later had to wake her from) followed by a visit to my Mom's around 7pm to wish her a Happy Mother's Day! She made Avrie some french toast "breakfast for dinner" and she loved it. Avrie also had a good time telling grandpa about all of the fun animals she got to see. I later asked her what her favorite animal was and she said "ZEEBAAAAA" haha. She also made sure to tell me over and over that "buppalos scary" which meant, the buffalos were scary for her.
I had all intentions of getting ice cream (my FAV treat) to top off this day, but on the way home from my Mom's it was after 9pm and Avrie was still not cool with me waking her up from her afternoon nap. I am pretty sure she would have slept thru the night had I not disturbed her, little one was pooped! And so was I. I was in bed and out like a light by 10pm!