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One of those days you just need to hop on a bus

Last night I promised the kids I would take them on a bus ride today and then this morning the weather was yucky and with the unpredictability of public transit to somewhere we could drive to in our own “silver bus” seeming unfathomable and scary, I tried to backtrack on my promise. I found and sold them on a “nature bus” which was actually a tram at the Northwest Trek. And then we all decided (me and the two 3-year old boys) that an hour and a half drive to Eatonville to ride it was somehow a fantastic idea. (Logic in the morning does not exist. I don’t know why I thought this would be easier than taking the bus.)

The fantastic idea was starting to seem not so fantastic when I pulled into a Starbucks for snacks halfway there and found that I had no wallet. But I had one credit card that I neglected to put back in it’s rightful place. (See disorganization always wins!!!)

And thankfully today was the first day that the Northwest Trek was open after a period of being closed due to storm damage. I had no idea. And thankfully they took credit cards. (Just not American Express, FYI)

We wandered around while we waited for our 12pm tram tour. We noshed on sandwiches that I actually packed myself.

And we saw a few animals. We also had a pee emergency and found out that the only real restroom in the place is located near the entrance.

I was a little scared someone would have to go while we rode the 55 minute tram. But we stayed dry. And it didn’t rain. So we were lucky enough to see a moose really close up and some mountain goats too.

And it was so neat to see how much the boys took in from their surroundings. This keeper explained to them that she wore thick gloves so the owl’s talons didn’t hurt her hands, and the boys repeated this fact to me when they got home.

And they also took their artwork seriously in the little discovery center.

So I only cursed a few times in my head when we got stuck in major traffic on the way home. At least one boy was asleep. And it was a fun day. And I could always turn into a mall parking lot. (Thank goodness for the silver bus. And my credit card. And there are a ton of places to shop in between Seattle and Eatonville, just so you know)

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Categories seattle, TRAVEL, ZOOS

Fragile Forest (Singapore Zoo, Singapore)

10 Jan

Seeing this little lemur on Trader Joe’s Cinnamon and Black Tea at Christmas made me all nostalgic and dreamy for our Singapore trip and I had to pick it up.

A couple months ago we traveled to my favorite zoo in the world. And this is why:

Look how close you can get to the animals in The Fragile Forest. It’s in the Singapore Zoo and you could spend the whole day just in that section if you aren’t there with 3-year olds. But even my crazy guys were totally in awe.

Everywhere you go little lemurs run freely. You don’t touch them-but you totally want to. And if you’re lucky you see them being fed.

Teeny deer hide in the bushes.

And bats hang from the trees.

And you imagine what it would be like to live in the wilderness for a little while. Then you head back to the giant metropolis that is the rest of Singapore and have a spectacular lunch and dream about going back.

One other cool thing to see as a Seattle-lite is this sign as you exit:

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Categories TRAVEL, TRAVELS, ZOOS

Penguins at Woodland Park Zoo

11 Oct

This morning there was a short break in the rain that looked like this:

So we put on our gumboots and headed to our zoo

where the guys have decided that the Hornbill gets their vote in the Quarters for Conservation program.

We had an emergency bathroom run by the elephants, and then were met with another downpour. But the guys still wanted to visit the toucan and the poison dart frogs, so we ducked into a nook in the penguin area to stay dry for a minute. The penguins were so animated we stayed there for a while and it was neat to see how rain might look from their perspective: if rain looked this glittery to me, I’d want to party too.