Spontaneous Fun!
The weather was so beautiful on Friday, and was so promising for today that my husband and I decided to take the girls to the St. Louis Zoo for a spontaneous day of fun. 
We rolled the girls out of bed at 6AM, and were on the road 15 minutes later.
My husband surprised the girls with donuts, and me with my favorite mocha.
We left so early because we wanted to arrive in time to enjoy the children's zoo for free.
As we spent a blissful hour there, it was a great idea.
My eldest hadn't been to a zoo since she was three.
The little one, sadly, had never been.
Needless to say, they were both delighted. I had forgotten how much fun it is to watch a little one discover the zoo for the first time, while my eldest gleefully read for herself for the first time all of the little placards about the animals.
Princess really enjoyed the statues.
We all enjoyed the butterfly dome because it was so much less crowded than the one we visited last year.
Pretty neat!
I don't remember liking fish when I was little, but the girls were fascinated.
And do you know what this is?
That's right! Hippo Buts!
My favorite animals have always been the elephants.
They are, quite simply, magnificent.
I'm also terribly fond of the beautiful buildings on Historic Hill. This picture is from inside of the herpetarium.
Every single detail in that building delights.
Honestly, I don't really enjoy what's in the herpetarium....but I have so much fun looking at the building that it doesn't matter!
Seriously, when a building houses a palm tree like this, that's special!
On our way to lunch, we visited this beauty.
Show-off.
After lunch, some friends joined us and we all went to visit the giraffes.
We rolled the girls out of bed at 6AM, and were on the road 15 minutes later. 
My husband surprised the girls with donuts, and me with my favorite mocha. 
We left so early because we wanted to arrive in time to enjoy the children's zoo for free. 
As we spent a blissful hour there, it was a great idea. 
My eldest hadn't been to a zoo since she was three. 
The little one, sadly, had never been. 
Needless to say, they were both delighted. I had forgotten how much fun it is to watch a little one discover the zoo for the first time, while my eldest gleefully read for herself for the first time all of the little placards about the animals. 
Princess really enjoyed the statues.
We all enjoyed the butterfly dome because it was so much less crowded than the one we visited last year. 
Pretty neat!
I don't remember liking fish when I was little, but the girls were fascinated. 
And do you know what this is?
That's right! Hippo Buts!
My favorite animals have always been the elephants. 
They are, quite simply, magnificent. 
I'm also terribly fond of the beautiful buildings on Historic Hill. This picture is from inside of the herpetarium. 
Every single detail in that building delights. 
Honestly, I don't really enjoy what's in the herpetarium....but I have so much fun looking at the building that it doesn't matter!
Seriously, when a building houses a palm tree like this, that's special!
On our way to lunch, we visited this beauty. 
Show-off.
After lunch, some friends joined us and we all went to visit the giraffes. 
The two on the left belong to our kids. All four of them got along so very well that you would think they played together on a regular basis!
Our friends have a zoo membership, and they treated us to rides on the train and tickets to see and touch the stingrays that are on special exhibit this summer. The last proved to be the Pixie's absolute favorite of the day, despite the fact that she was more than a bit intimidated by some of the rays.
Our friends invited us to dinner at their home, where we were enjoyed by two other families from our college circle. We spent the entire evening sitting out on their deck, enjoying each other's company while the kids played happily inside.
It was a perfect day!
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