Monday we took the girls for a day at The National Zoo in DC. It's a beautiful zoo (our tax dollars hard at "work") and only took us about 2.5+ hours to get there. We got into the zoo at close to 10:30 and by 10:40 Alysa was having melt downs already. It was a mixed day. Overall the day went well, but the girls were miserably cranky due to the heat (our first 80-something day) and the sun was very strong. Alysa wanted nothing to do with the stroller or walking. Which put me or J (me mostly) carrying her. Thankfully the zoo has misters for cooling off. The girls were at their happiest while they were frolicking in the water and the one rest stop we made in the visitor's center. Whenever Alysa was wet, I made her "suffer" and ride in the stroller. I was wet enough due to the heat.

They did enjoy the animals though. Kayla's favorite was the baby panda and the elephants. Alysa really enjoyed the Tiger.

As far as food goes, we had to dodge quite a bit while there. The most annoying was inside the buildings. Can I ask why is it so hard for someone to put the food away during the short amount of time you're in a building looking at birds or reptiles? These buildings are clearly marked that no food or drink is allowed. These should have been our "safe havens". But no - and actually in the panda building we had to dodge a huge spread of crushed goldfish on the floor [*sigh*]. But between putting her in sneakers (no exposed toes) and our diligence, Kayla came out of the day unscathed.

We never stopped at PF Chang's. By the time we left, we were due to make it home around 6, so we figured why torture the girls with another stop when we could just give them dinner at home. And we were well stocked with snacks (and DVD's) for the car ride.

I definitely hope to go back in the not too distant future - not only to see the Zoo again, but to sight-see all the other landmarks and activities DC has to offer.

Here's a peak into our day...