The next day we met up with Aunt Sissy (Jocelyn) and more cousins and went to the zoo. When I was little and went to the zoo, I remember being so in awe of all those big animals and just had a great time watching them. Ben's attitude was "Eh." about the whole thing. He did like hearing the monkeys hollering loudly to each other, but other than that, it was the play area he enjoyed the most.
All the cousins loved Funderland, which is a small amusement park with kiddie rides near the zoo. Despite the small meltdown he had over being forced to ride the "fish ride" when he wanted to go on the Dragon Coaster next, Ben had a blast. They also had little cars to drive, a log flume ride, spinning teacups, airplanes to ride among others we didn't go on. Ben loved the log flume ride and the coaster.
On Thursday, we went canoeing on the American River with Aunt Sandra. First time for us all! I was SO sore after our 2.5 hour paddle. I thought my arms might fall off. We were going up river, and the current was strong at times. Going back was easier, but by then we were tired. And those hard, wooden seats...my rear was aching too. It was pretty out there though. Later, I took Ben and Zoe (his 6yo cousin) to an indoor bounce place. They had loads of fun. (Ben said, "Oh, this is WAY better than our home. I want to live here from now on!" and figured he could sleep on the soft, air-filled bouncers pretty easily with all the white noise from the blowers.) When we got back, I got some great shots of Zoe out in the greenbelt behind their house.
Friday Ben and I entertained ourselves most of the day by going to see "How to Train Your Dragon". Really cute movie. They had some technical difficulties a couple times and passed out rainchecks as we were leaving. Then we went to McDonalds where we found out they had Dragon toys from the movie, much to Ben's delight. After walking around some outlet shops (and finding nothing worth buying) we went back. Got some pictures of Camilla in the greenbelt after we returned from dinner, but it was pretty late and the light was fading fast so a lot ended up blurry. Plus, she's three and wild, so didn't sit still like her sister.
Saturday we packed up and went to Walmart to replenish the milk and Cheerios supply, and to get some snacks for the trip back. We said our goodbyes and thank yous and hit the road, stopping at a McDonald's for lunch so he could get another dragon toy.
It was so great getting to visit everyone! Especially since we might be moving north soon to be closer to Alex.
1 comment:
sounds like a wonderful trip! i wish i could have spent more time with you guys -- especially at the movies!!!
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