This ain't Grassmere (Sunday, 3/9)

Guess what we did? Yep, we went to the zoo! It was a blast. It definitely wasn't as nice as Grassmere (our local zoo, for my out-of-town friends). Or as safe. You could reach over the rail and touch the elephants' trunks. At the giraffe exhibit, you could climb up on a platform to pet the giraffe.

We saw something very cool, though. We had just missed a birth in the petting zoo, but they were trying to train the baby sheep to nurse. They ended up milking the mama and feeding the baby from a cup. But they did all this right out in the open. We were standing 5 feet away (taking pictures, of course). I wish we had seen the birth. That would've been a great experience for Dylan.

The zoo also had a little kiddie carnival. Dylan had a blast. We went with our travel partners, Linda, her 8-year-old daughter Jasmine, and their new baby daughter/sister Giang. Dylan has become quite fond of Jasmine and asks every day to go play with 'Jaz.' They play in the pool together and hang out together everywhere we go. She acts like a protective older sister and he acts like the tag-a-long little brother. It's so cute to watch them together.

We rode on the 'choo-choo' through the zoo, which amazed Dylan. He loves trains, so he was so excited to ride on the train. He also rode in a bumper car with Jasmine. She was just going around in circles (not bumping into anything), so we let him ride. He had a blast doing that! They also went 'fishing' in a little play pool. There was a little ball pit that he loved playing in as well.

For our enjoyment, the zoo had a banzai garden. It was amazing seeing all the banzai trees.

While we were at the zoo, we heard thunder rumbling, so we headed back to the hotel. It was several miles away, so we took a cab. As soon as we got in the cab, it started pouring. By the time we got to the hotel, the water was several inches deep on the road. And it was rush hour. It was quite the sight! Have I mentioned how crazy the traffic is here?? You should see it in the rain. There were whole families under tarps riding down the flooded roads on motorbikes.

Oh, and here's our view from our room. And Madison crawling. (here's a random pic of Maddie)