Saturday, June 15, 2013

First Time At Hogle Zoo

We took the girls to the zoo last Saturday. Next summer it will cost for Shasta to get in and since she had never been before we wanted to take advantage of the good weather while she was still free. Did you know it costs $12.75 per adult and $10.75 per child? Seriously? That's insane! Or I'm really cheap....
What we didn't consider was it was the first weekend after school let out for the summer so it was pretty crowded. We circled the parking lot looking for a place to park for a good 20 minutes. Ugh.
It was really fun to see Shasta react to the animals, but she could only see them if they were moving. If it was asleep, laying down, far away, or little she couldn't find it. The big hits were all things swimming, elephants, rhinos, bears, giraffes, and especially the chimpanzees and monkeys!
Right in the corner of the glass there's a monkey sleeping, but she was more interested in the monkeys moving around.
We had a lot of fun, but two things made it turn ugly.

#1. We brought the car seat stroller for Shelby and the umbrella stroller for Shasta. We let Shasta out of the stroller at the first stop so she could get a better look and from then on she didn't want to be back in the stroller. Instead she wanted to push it and it was so crowded and she can't steer straight so it was really frustrating. Any time we made her stop she screamed and cried. She didn't want to walk, but she wouldn't ride in the stroller. She wanted to be carried, but not by dad, only mom. Although the weather was decent, it got hot in a hurry carrying a toddler and climbing all those hills.

#2. Shelby started getting hungry and we're not to a point where we can nurse in public under a cover. She was content to be held, but I didn't want her in the sun so we decided I would wait in the shade while Nick and Shasta finished up in the area we were in and then we'd find a bathroom for me to nurse her in. Well, while they were gone Shelby was no longer content being held. I tried calling Nick to ask if they were almost done and of course, no answer. Mommy panic kicked in so I put her back in her stroller and decided to follow the path Nick and Shasta took to see if I could find them. Nothing. It was a straight line and then you had to turn around and come back so I had no idea where they were or how I missed them. At this point Shelby was really mad so I decided to just find a bathroom without them. Once I found one there were 3 adults standing along the shade, blocking the quickest path to get into the restroom so I had to go around them. Annoying. Then I struggled to get the stroller inside the door and not one of them offered to hold the door for me. Rude. I finally got in and went to the handicap stall so there was room for me and the stroller. Then wouldn't you know it, Shelby wouldn't latch. It was SO frustrating. I was sweaty hot with her up against me, standing in a smelly, noisy, bathroom, trying to latch a baby while pinning my shirt under my chin so I could see what I was doing and she's trying to latch, but with no success. I may or may not have cried a little. Once she finally latched we were doing good, but she was taking forever, I was roasting hot, and someone emptied their bowels in the stall next to me so I cut her off and called it quits. She had at least eaten enough to finish up at the Zoo and make it home (to Bountiful for a graduation/birthday party with Nick's family) before I needed to feed her again.

Once I calmed down and was over my frustration with not being able to find Nick and Shasta we met up and finished up with the chimpanzees. It was the biggest hit with Shasta. It's a fairly small, inside exhibit and they were actively moving around so Shasta could see them at all times. And for a while it wasn't crowded so it was super nice. Then right before the room filled with people, one of the chimps decided to climb up on a branch right in front of the glass, turn his backside to us and take a dump! Shasta thought it was SO funny!!! And guess what?!? Everyday since then she's randomly brought up the pooping monkey at the zoo. She says, "Monkey POOPED! Silly monkey!" At least he left a lasting impression!

2 comments:

Katy said...

Wow, you guys are brave to do the zoo in the summer. We went in October last year and it was great! I hope nursing gets easier soon. You are such a trooper! What lucky girls to have you for a mom!

AN Petersen said...

First, those prices are ridiculous. I feel that way about all zoo prices. I only go if I have free passes or someday get a yearly pass.

Secondly, I've done almost that exact same thing while nursing Matthew. He never learned to nurse without a shield so it was always super frustrating to nurse him anywhere but home.