Oakland Zoo Again

Since it was so cold, Ella is so little, Ruby is so snotty and school was still in, we did a lot of sitting around while Grandpa O'Brien was in town.  By his last weekend, the weather was beautiful so we planned a trip to the Oakland Zoo.  I love the Oakland Zoo!  I can't believe that there are real animals at a zoo so close and easy to get to with plenty of parking.

Ruby remembered our trip from the spring so she was all for it as well.  All she could talk about on the way to the zoo was petting the goats.  Even with monkeys, giraffes, elephants, tigers, etc., all she wanted was to pet the goats.  She humored us by stopping to look at other animals but after about 7 seconds would shout, "Come on girls!  Let's go to the goats!"  I finally reminded her that Grandpa was with us as well so she switched to, "Come on girls!  Come on boy!"

Her second favorite thing at the zoo was the little children's play area.

And her third favorite, were the rides outside the park.   With four people, it made sense to buy a book of tickets.  After the train and the carousel, Ruby got to ride on three more rides.  She picked the cars, the airplanes and the roller coaster.  The car was a nice simple ride with no controls.  The airplane has a lever that makes it go up and down.  It took her a second to figure out how to use it but then she went as high as she could the rest of the ride.  I went on the roller coaster with her...thank goodness.  After the first turn I was tightly holding on to her, my hat and the bar.  What was Ruby doing?  Putting her arms up in the air and screaming with joy.  She's my kid =)

Ruby must've had fun.  For the second time in a month, she fell asleep in the car.

 

As a side note, Ruby was an awesome listener from the time we left to the time we got home.  I don't know if we're done with the terrible threes (two was no problem but a new strong will accompanied by an occasional tantrum were special gifts on her third birthday), if being a big sister really means something, if the Elf on the Shelf's power extends to the zoo or if the promise of a trip inside the gift shop kept her in check.  Regardless, I'll take it and am actually excited for our trip to Disneyland in February.