Cincinnati zoo

On Labor Day weekend we went to Cincinnati for the wedding of Cordt and Carolyn, met Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Jeff and Aunt Sara, and some more of Erin's side of the extended family. We got to stay in a hotel, and since our room was right next to Grandpa's, Will got to hang out with him a lot.

This was Hallie's first stay in a hotel, and since we had learned our lesson with the boy, she got to sleep in the bathroom. This made for some interesting middle-of-the-night trips to the bathroom in Grandpa & Grandma's room, but not this interesting. Another first, Will got to sleep in his own hotel bed, since he's a big boy now. One night Erin, who was sleeping on the side of our bed closest to Will, was awoken by a strange sound. Will was awake and had reached over to the phone on the table between our two beds, had picked up the receiver, and was pushing random buttons. He told us he was calling Grandpa. Fortunately there were no strange phone charges on our bill when we checked out.

Anyway, we all went a day early for the long weekend so we could hang out for a day in Cincinnati. We did a number of fun things - the guys got to go play disc golf at a local course, and the girls went shopping. But then a bunch of us all went to the Cincinnati zoo together. Our friend Neal and his girlfriend Susan are from Cincinnati, and were in town for the weekend as well - they actually stayed with the kids while we went to the wedding on Sunday. Neal joined us for a couple of these outings and served as a Cincinnattah guide, but also had a great time himself at the zoo, where he hadn't been since he was much younger.

It was a beautiful day to go to the zoo. Will sang the song "we going to the zoo" over and over, it was great.

We saw tigers and bears and gorillas (see the one below sitting with his back to everyone in the middle of the clearing)...

Alligators...

Will even got to feed a giraffe!

Don't worry the pictures below are not of a real alligator. But Will still hurt his head on the sharp teeth when he was posing with his head in its mouth.

There was also a choo-choo! Grandpa and Will and I got to ride on it, it was a really neat ride through the zoo, which also boasts an impressive botanical garden. We took pictures of these silly tourists we saw.

Hallie got to ride too - in the Baby Bjorn carrier. She really liked being able to see everything.

No trip to the zoo is complete without Will getting a ride on the carousel. And the several pictures it takes to get one of him actually looking/waving at the camera.

I had forgotten - the time we were at the zoo was also the first Saturday of college football season. So we had Will dressed in his University of Wisconsin "Jump Around" shirt since we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Sara. Hallie dressed a little more appropriately...