Mommy's taking us to the zoo

David had to work Columbus Day so it was just me and the boys for the day.  Somehow we found ourselves without any plans.  It was a beautiful day and we couldn't spend it indoors.  I threw out the idea of hiking but Mr. 10 and Mr. 6 had hiked 6 miles with their Cub Scout troop the day before and weren't keen on going back to the Fells.  I mentioned the zoo and Mr. 4 immediately wanted to do nothing else.  We threw some snacks in a bag and jumped in the car - amazing that we really don't need much else these days!  We listened to the end of The Hero's Guide to Saving the Kingdom on the way there and even started the sequel on the drive there.

The weather was perfect and everyone was in good spirits.  Mr. 6 amazed me with his facts - he knew that a bustard is one of the heaviest birds that can fly and that a giraffe can lick its own ears with its long tongue.  The kids loved the big cats - tigers, lions, and especially the ocelots.  They spent almost an hour on the playground (although Mr. 12 got a little bored, he gamely helped Mr. 4 when needed and chatted with me while waiting for the younger crowd).  Before we left we rode the carousel and this was a huge hit, particularly with Mr. 4.  He rode a dog and he has told everyone for the past 24 hours how much he loved it.  There were many tears when we had to get off.

Franklin Park is a small zoo but it was a great place to spend a beautiful day!

Maker afternoon

We found ourselves with an entire afternoon free and everyone suddenly found themselves engrossed in a project.  Mr. 4 made a box for his bears using glue and all the felt pieces he could find.  Mr. 6 and his friend J got busy finishing a few projects from a Kiwi Crate that had somehow never been finishing.  And Mr. 10 built a robot (what else would he do)!  Meanwhile Mr. 12 and J's sister S wrote up a website for S's snack shop Sweedish.  Soon we found ourselves ordering a few snacks online while Mr. 10 tried to figure out how to deliver flyers with his quadcopter.  A rather productive afternoon for all!