Portland and the Zoo ...

We all decided that going to the Zoo for the girls birthday's would be a fun experience. Apparently there is only one zoo in Oregon. It's in Portland. So, last weekend, we all loaded up into 3 separate cars, and off we went.

We were told by the employees at the Oregon Zoo, that since the weather was going to be nice that day we should get there early because there would be a lot of people there.

The zoo opened at 9am, so our plan was to be on the road by 7am. We were a little late with that deadline .. it was almost 8 before we got onto the freeway. No harm done, we were on our way.

We FINALLY (it seemed to take forever) pulled into the parking lot and found a parking spot, and went and got in line. Yes, there was a line, but it wasn't too bad. The zoo had only been open about an hour at this point, so it really wasn't bad. Into the zoo we went. All 11 of us .. and only 4 of the 11 were children. We had a huge party.

This zoo was massive, HUGE. It was so spread out. I was actually a little disappointed. The animals were neat, but they were very timid this day. A lot of them were sleeping, and not really doing much. The kiddos had fun, and that's what matters, but I just wish that it would have been a little bit better.

Our original plan was to bring in a picnic lunch and eat on the grassy area at the park. However, when we left the zoo, to go and get our ice chest .. the line ... O M G. It looped around the parking lot. It was crazy long ... we decided that we would just find another park to eat at.

We found a park, unloaded, and ate amongst the sticky mud filled grass. Don't get me wrong, we had a nice time, but the mud was everywhere. And it was the stickiest mud I've ever seen in my whole life. It was really gross.

Anyway, it was now time to head home. Remember we're in a 3 car caravan, and the caboose (my car) had NO clue where we were or where we were going. Coming out of the zoo parking lot, we got stuck behind the slowest moving vehicle in all of Oregon. The caboose was separated from the rest of the pack. We ended up getting REALLY separated, and almost lost. It was a bad situation ... but it got fixed. We all got home safely. It was a good day, a long day, and a very tiring day ... but we all had fun.

We got home just in time for the rain ...

Until next time ...