The National Zoo

On May 25th we went to the National Zoo. Mykenzi had no idea where we were going until we were half way there, so it was really neat to surprise here with a few hours at the zoo and the sights of the city. We haven't been to D.C. or to the zoo since Mykenzi was 11 months old, so there were lots of new sights for her to take in.

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I've often heard the Washington Monument compared to a pencil, but Mykenzi says it looks like a big finger pointing up. This doesn't have anything to do with the monument, but it just made me remember that she also spells her name out loud like this "M-Y-K-E-N-Z-up and a dot."

So not sure what we're doing, but as always, along for the ride and willing to take in anything new.

This was one of the more memorable moments of the trip for Mykenzi, when the tiger jumped in the water and began playing with the giant ball.

I just have to mention what a good daddy my children have to hold one while the other is sitting on his shoulders. As for Mykenzi's expression, watch that on the next 2 pictures as well.

You would have thought an animal was coming over the wall or something.

Because I knew I'd be shooting in Full Auto all day in order to just enjoy the day with Jonmark and the kids instead of concentrating on getting perfect pictures, I took a moment to switch to Manual Mode and shoot this waterfall (man made, but still pretty) while Jonmark studied a map to plan out our journey through the zoo.

The monkies were also a highlight of the trip. All of the monkies were just sitting there, so Mykenzi asked why, and Jonmark told her they were in time out.

We used the double stroller too because it was super busy being Memorial Day weekend and a beautiful Sunday as well.

Here's something Jonmark had just said moments before that he'd like to see one day, a monkey traveling these cables. We watched two of them go along the cables until the crossed the path over head. This is quite the spectacle too, it jammed up the paths with everyone looking up and cameras firing constantly.

I have no idea what this thing is supposed to be that Mykenzi is sitting on...a bear, a pig, a hippo....I do not know.

Camden had a full belly after lunch, and a shirt covered in it, so he went to sleep peacefully. We didn't even notice until we stopped to show him an animal, called his name, and realized he was out!

Sunbathing seals

Last stop - the Kids Farm, and Camden missed that too.

On our way out of the city. We actually had a lot of fun riding around the city answering various questions for Mykenzi, who seemed most intrigued by the tunnels than all of the buildings, and the crazy drivers kept us all laughing.

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When we first arrived in D.C., we hit a traffic jam that stopped us for 12 minutes, and while that usually frustrates drivers, it was actually a very patriotic moment and it felt very appropriate. Memorial Day weekend is when Rolling Thunder rolls through D.C.; hundreds, I don't know it might be thousands, of motorcyles travel there, which we knew of, but we didn't expect to sit on the road waiting for them all to cross the bridge behind us and merge onto the road in front of us. Camden was of course asleep, but Mykenzi was wide awake and loving every minute of this. I really hope we don't have a future motorcycle babe on our hands because she's always loved motorcycles, but she never complained about sitting there for even 1 second during that 12 minutes and instead pointed out every single motorcycle with the American Flag flying on the back. A lot of people also got out of there cars to stop and watch this motorcycle parade of sorts, and all you could hear was the Rolling Thunder. It was actually beautiful.