Family Day

We convinced Daddy to take a day off and went as a family to the San Francisco Zoo. Grandpa and Grandma Christensen were visiting Heidi and Steve so they all met us there and we toured most of it together. It was such a great zoo! The kids were so, so, so excited to see so many animals that our zoos here don’t have: lions, a hippo, rhinos, zebras, gorillas, snow leopard, grizzly and polar bear, tarantulas, penguins, seals, koalas, kangaroos, and so much more. It was a little stressful at times as Ethan (for us) and Wyatt (for Heidi) were a bit on the cranky side. Just what two pregnant women need. We just strapped Ethan into an umbrella stroller and mostly made him sit. Of course with the occasional in and out, I didn’t realize at one point he wasn’t strapped in. They had a little nature trail with teenagers and animals that the kids could learn about and pet. I picked up the stroller to show Ethan something and then accidentally dropped him on his face in the dirt in front of a 12 year old zoo volunteer and all our family. I felt like the worst mother. The girl said, “Wow. I’ve never seen that before.” Ethan was fine and just needed a brush off of dirt, but I made sure the seat belt was on after that. My Dad, Grandpa Christensen to the kids, is a funny guy. He loves to go places and loves to take his time seeing things. Maybe we were going fast because poor Ethan was a bit stressful, but at one point Jared wondered if we were at the zoo or at Lowe’s. (Our amazingly handy Dad’s playhouse) I suppose its his curious nature that causes it. He asked the youth volunteer with the hedgehog if they bite. The 12 year old boy looked at him very seriously and said, “well, sir, any animal with a mouth can bite”. His tone and facial expressions put all of us in hysterics as we left. Once we were able to get Dad out of the zoo we drove to the wharf and met Josh, Jenica and the kids (who had spent the day at the Academy of Sciences) for a shrimp dinner at Bubba Gumps. I ordered a salad, even though Jared tried to talk me out of it, and then ate everyone else’s shrimp and french fry scraps. Jared was right. I should have ordered shrimp. It was really good. It was really fun. I would love to go back down in a few years and do the exact same day. Except hopefully by then the kids have a little more endurance and we can finish the day off with a nice Ghiradelli sundae. Can you tell I am pregnant? I am always thinking food……

They were holding hands. We are getting into the stage where there is a lot of bickering and teasing so this was a cute moment for us to see.

If you can’t tell that is a cheesy mustache on Bryce’s face. Daddy can go the whole day without eating. The rest of us are about 3 hours max. We convinced Daddy we needed substance and then devoured a soft pretzel with creamy cheese dip. Mmmm, mmm good to our little Pal.