The Real Housewife of DC: National Park Week: National Zoo!

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

National Park Week: National Zoo!

I thought it would be fun to celebrate National Park Week this year with the girls. This week is the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. Now, not to sound too much like Leslie Knope but I do love the National Park Service because I have loved every single National Park I have ever been too. When I was a kid, I'm sure I complained about being pulled all around the country to visit historical landmarks, but as an adult I completely appreciate what my parents did and now have a love of the national parks.

We have a ton of National Parks around the DC area, but not all are completely friendly for 18-month-olds and four-year-olds, so I am mixing in national parks with some of our local county parks for a fun week of outings.

First stop on Monday was the National Zoo! We have a membership that includes free parking, so I take the kids as much as possible. Caroline is now old enough to actually enjoy the animals (and to actually see the animals).

I want to apologize in advance for some of the photos, I didn't realize I had a smudge on the lens.

We got to the zoo around 9:45am and stayed until about 11:30am. It was so hot by the time we left, I immediately changed the girls into shorts when we got home.

About to go to the panda exhibit

We got to see both pandas! The baby was napping and the mommy was outside. When we walked into the panda building, the mom came in and started to eat and then take a bath. We were the only people in the room and got to enjoy the panda without a huge crowd- it was awesome!

As the sign says, those are American Bison :)

After searching, unsuccessfully, for the elephants, we stopped for a snack of goldfish and juice. At this point, Elizabeth was insisting we find the flamingos after snack time because she saw them with Charlie and Jack and wanted to see them again. :)