Jacksonville Zoo

On Thursday, June 13, my mama, sister, NK and I packed up and went for a day trip to Jacksonville.  I had two things on my to do list for Norah Kate this summer: a trip to the zoo and a trip to the beach.  We wanted to do everything before it got too hot, well, we almost waited to long.

We left at about 9:00 for Jacksonville.  When we got there it was right around lunch time so we decided to go eat first.  We ate at the Cheesecake Factory, and it may seem common sense but the best part of their menu was their cheesecake.  Some of you may say, "well duh!"  But honestly, I have heard everyone rave about it so much that I thought their food would be good too, but it wasn't that great to me, and I am not a picky eater.  Norah Kate was WILD in the restaurant and was wanting to "saush" (salt) everything- which is weird because I rarely salt food at home.  She is getting a little more difficult in restaurants because she hates being confined... I learned to not even ask for a high chair and get a booth instead, and ask if they can bring her food our first.  One thing we did learn though is that she likes raw tuna.  She tore up my sister's tuna!



Anyways, after lunch Mama needed to get something from Pottery Barn so we walked what seemed like 3 miles in the blaring heat to the Pottery Barn.  My sister pulled up the weather to see what the high temp was going to be it I think it was something like 96 degrees with 10% chance of rain.  Not a cloud in the sky.

We got to the zoo around 2 and Norah Kate kept saying "It's hot."  I was like, "Yeah baby, I know."  I put her in my stroller, pulled mine and her hair up, and away we went.

You can tell it was hot and humid because we all had a little "shine" to our face.

 

The first place we went to was the lions den.  I don't think she could see them really well, it was so hot that were laying out in the shade on a rock.  Next we went to the giraffes.  She LOVED them!  That was her favorite part I think.  She would pat the rail and say "'Mere boy! C'mon!"  She would giggle and squeal.  While looking at the giraffes the bottom literally fell our of the sky, it started pouring!  At first I was disappointed but then it really cooled us off and ended up being a blessing.

 

We made our way around the zoo, and Norah Kate walked most of the way.  She couldn't really see what was going on when in the stroller.  I kept thinking she would get tired and want to be held, but no.  She liked the monkeys, the birds, and the otters.  She also liked the "Rogs" (frogs).  We never saw the elephants, so I was disappointed about that, but they were about to close up and I think had put them up for feeding.

 

 

 

After trekking 3 miles at the mall, then probably 3-5 miles at the zoo, we were tired, hot, and sticky, not to mention hungry.  I learned a long time ago to pack snacks, so I gave her a fruit cup and some water and she fell asleep I think before we even pulled out of the parking lot.

She had a blast and really did good!  She is an excellent car rider, and can tolerate her car seat for 3+ hours at a time.  I was one tired mama though when we got home!