members night at the zoo

matt had to work late, so the kids and i went to "members' night" at the zoo. we had to hustle to get there but we made it just in time to get to all of the special events. first we raced through to get to a musical science show. we even had enough time to pick up our free popcorn. 

when the 'frog' came out, mason asked me to take a picture.

while the kids were loving the science singing show, madelyn was feeling a bit ill from the heat and we retreated inside until she was feeling better.

manning and maddux passed on the touch tank in favor of eating some more popcorn.

here is a bit of an 'after' of the hair

the stilt walker was great and mason loved giving him true "high" fives!

next, we waited in line for face painting. we ran into several families i know, but madelyn was really hoping to run into someone she knew so that she could show off her haircut. unfortunately, we never saw anyone who would have noticed the change.

i always feel bad when we monopolized the painters.

now we had just enough time to hustle over to the "juggling show." somehow we made it just as the show was starting. it was standing room only but several people left when babies starting crying at how loud it was in the theater (people were complaining about the heat too but i thought it felt cooler in there than outside) so we ended up with seats.

it was SO much more than juggling. he was a "magician, juggler and plumber." madelyn kept looking at me and saying "that was ah-mazing!" after each trick. the boys were loving it too. manning even tried to do some 'juggling' himself...

our crew

we walked around the garden for a little while and then started making our way towards the exit because it was already getting late and i wanted them to get baths. they were excited to get some animal trading cards and a zoo drawstring backpack on our way out. it was such a nice evening and we all wished daddy could have joined us. the kids were able to tell him all about it when we got home. we all agreed that he juggling show was fantastic and retold several of the jokes. our favorite? "why did the chicken cross the zoo? to get to the otter slide!"

i tried to get an 'after' of madelyn's hair but it isn't great because she was sweaty and wearing a headband.

we do love our little zoo! love.