Awesome Anniversary Adventures...part 3 - Hotel, Zoo...

Waking up high above the city traffic was super exciting for JackJack...

He grabbed a toy car and hoped up to the window and just got lost in the wonder of the morning rush below ;)

Getting ready for another day of adventures

Cheeky buba's set for shenanigans!

Our hotel

If you yourself have a vehicle obsessed child....these pics need no explaining!

Having breaky at Macca's and JackJack was pretty damn excited by the sparrows....little did he know what the day had instore for him yet! ;)

We missed the breaky menu by a few minutes....no hotcakes for Muma :(

But the boys sure did enjoy having a chippy fight! lol

We enjoyed watching a sign writer busy in the sky, unfortunately Jack missed it coz we couldn't get him to focus where we were pointing, but none the less entertaining for Muma and Daddy :)

"STAY COOL" was the whole thing, though the bummer for the pilot was that the wind blew the clouds across "STAY CO" and all that was visible was "OL" after all the effort!

Melbourne Zoo....FREE FAMILY PASS courtesy of Jack winning a comp in the Sunday Herald Sun last year(my boys have ALL the luck!)

We came well prepared for the journey around the zoo.... Muma had the ergo for nap time, we brought the trike for JackJack's comfort - better visibility then a stroller and a bit of fun to boot, and the nana trolley, full of everything bar the kitchen sink! lol

The boys playing on a seal statue

Agh...such a hard life being a seal... :)

The new seal exhibit.....

Oh how I wish my conscience would shut up! I LOVED the zoo as a kid, but all I saw when looking at these exhibits were trapped caged up wild animals that aren't in their natural environment.  But, I guess zoo's have their place in helping animal conservation :)

Rrrrroooooaaaarrrr!!

We had planned out our day, were only going to go to the lions, butterflies and the new baby elephant...in order to not tire out bub and spend longer at each single animal...but as you can see from the seals, it didn't exactly work that way! It was like, oh these are on the way to that! Whoops!

We would really like to sign up to the Friends Of The Zoo, so that we can take Jack to all 3 Victorian zoo's, at least one once a month, and just concentrate on a few animals each time....maybe take some colouring sheets and activities based on the animals we check out.

JackJack was so excited by the lions, he squealed to Daddy "side, SIDE!!"

He wanted to go inside with them! lol

Up close and personal with a pelican!

The start of the walk into the Elephant exhibit...Thai inspired

Gorgeous elephant family wooden statues

The elephants art gallery!

These are some examples of paintings done by the elephants, they hold the brush in their trunk :)

Jack enjoying climbing over this large elephant statue with some other kids.

The wait to see baby Mali was veeeery long, we were the back end of the first group of 100 people lined up, and our wait was 1hr45mins :(

JackJack was well entertained through the wait though.  As well as playing around this statue, he enjoyed a puppet show that an older boy put on for his younger siblings with a tiger puppet, watching two brothers play clapping/hand shake games, and running around the waiting area playing boo! 

And, after that looong wait.....this is the view we get! :(

The back of inconsiderate peoples heads.

5mins each group of 100 people got, and this bunch of people did not give up a single second to let the rest of us see. Major grrrr

Here's where a tall hubby comes in handy!

Tyler managed to get Mali on camera with his hand hiiiigh up in the air, but even then I had to do some major cropping of the pic to get her to a decent size! 

Cute huh?!

She is in with her Muma and her Aunty here.

Her Dad was in the next paddock....didn't get any good pics of him either coz of the damn crowd on the way out

Orangutan statue

Can you see this beautifully curious orangutan peeping in the window here?! :)

Trying to get a glimpse of the rest of the family indoors....

Trust Muma Dental Nurse to have spotted this Thai dental sign amongst all the displays! ;)

Puuurdy huh?! Mosaic entrance to the Butterfly House

More pretties on the actual Butterfly House

Flutter flutter flutterby...

3 butterflies on the feeding tray

Caterpillars.....

(Which reminds me....we got an awesome pic of our little caterpillar friend out in our front yard...must blog it for you all!)

I tried so hard to stay still, put my arm out, hold my hand flat...all the tricks others were doing to get the gorgeous little critters to land on them....narder! :(

Yet, this girl had one after the other landing on her head...one got off, another would get on...and she DIDN'T want them!! NOT fair!! lol Musta been her scent or something

Sweet butterfly sculptures on the exit of the Butterfly House

This was sweet and all...but why oh WHY did it NOT click with me what would be behind this wall?  SPIDERS! Lots and LOTS of spiders!!!! Agh! 

Roar! Tiger

JackJack and Crumpet Bear sitting on an elephant statue

Nawww

See the big white thing in the background?

:(  That's the carousal that I desperately wanted to go on, that we planned to go on after our long wait/short visit to Mali, but we got back here and it was all covered up :(  It closed early afternoon :( 

Run bubby run!!!

JackJack enjoyed frolicking on the lawn, freeing his legs up to play ;)

Want an icy pole JackJack?!!

Guess which one is Muma's? ;)

Icy rainbow goodness ;)

Conked on the way home....with his new elephant cup we got from the gift shop

And this is a bus Muma spied in the traffic on the way home.....could so see my little fam travelling around in something like this ;)