Clayton with his sleepy mask - he loves it!
On the 4th, we headed out early towards Asheboro for a visit to the North Carolina Zoo.
On the way, Dave noticed one of our tail lights was flapping in the wind. Since we didn't have extra duct tape in the van, we stopped at the nearest gas station. They didn't carry duct tape, but one of the girls behind the counter was kind enough to let us borrow her own personal roll. It was camo! More on the tail light below!
With the tail light fixed, we made our way to the zoo and arrived just as the gates opened. We started in the North American section of the zoo and made our way to see the animals. Like this cougar, who seemed a bit depressed. Poor kitty!
"Choot em' Lizbeth, choot em!"
Swamp People reference :)
Playful seals
Lazy polar bear
Watching the seals chase one another
The Boys.
We get asked a lot if they are twins. Twins in trouble making, yes. Actual twins, no!
A stop at the garden-themed playground
I have a picture from 4 years ago of a 4 year-old Ashleigh, 2 year-old Clayton and me pregnant with Reed in this very squash!
Playing
And more playing!
Even though we arrived at the zoo fairly early in the morning, it was already quite warm. The misting stations along the trail were a welcome sight!
The power generated by peddling, turned this colorful windmill.
With all the walking, I was so relieved to see this sign!
Ashleigh viewing bison
The geyser
We didn't see lions or tigers, but we did see bears!
Entering the desert
These turtles were munching on a pretty delicious looking salad! Mixed greens, chopped apples, carrots, mango - not sure about the white stuff. Maybe it was feta!
The cutest part of the desert were these baby ocelots born in April. One of the babes came right up to the glass and did what babies do best - poop!
Gigantic beehive
Ashleigh riding a gigantic bee
A gorilla in deep thought
Elephants
Giraffes
After we walked around the African exhibits, we hopped on the zoo tram and headed back towards the entrance.
We saw a number of thrift stores on the way to the zoo, so we decided to stop by a few before leaving town. The only one open on the holiday was Goodwill. Surprisingly, the Goodwill in Asheboro has higher prices than the Goodwill in Raleigh. After thrift store browsing we grabbed lunch at the Golden Corral next door where we had two of the sweetest, most attentive servers ever!
As we're driving out of Asheboro, we pass by a Hobby Lobby. Of course I scream with delight! I've seen the awesome stuff from Hobby Lobby on other blogs, but have never visited one. We don't have them in Raleigh for some strange reason. Dave drops me off to take a quick look inside while he and the kids wait in the car. Oh, it was everything I had imagined! It was like a Michael's, Home Goods and Jo-Ann's rolled into one - but better! Seriously, I loved everything in the store. I walked aisle after aisle taking it all in. I found a cute French sign for the bathroom that was on sale. I left the store feeling in awe and arrived at the car to find a crabby looking Dave. According to Dave, I was in the store for an hour! I'm not sure it was really an hour, but he says it was. If it was really an hour, wouldn't they have come inside looking for me? What if I had fainted or something!
The tail light continued...Later in the day after we were home, Dave made a quick run to the store for some paint brushes. As he was coming out of the store, he saw a bunch of kids (teenagers) standing behind the van. When they saw him walking towards the van, they ran off. When Dave got to the van, he found the broken tail light cover missing, camo duct tape and all. What is going on with the youth of today?!? Who takes a broken tail light cover?!? Really!
Anywho, that was our 4th. Hope yours was enjoyable!
Mary Ellen
