Family vacation

Before the beginning of school, we were able to have a week-long family vacation. (I've heard the term "stay-cation.") John and I planned a few local outings. We live in a wonderful city with lots of local attractions.
Our first Saturday off, we headed to Pittsburgh to visit Aunt Angie before her big move to California. It was a long car ride for the boys but they did very well. We visited with Angie until she needed to leave for work then we headed to the Pittsburgh Zoo.

I'm ready. Show me the animals.There's a zebra up there somewhere...

We love going to the Erie zoo. When we were planning the trip to Pittsburgh, I really wanted to be able to check out the zoo in Pittsburgh. They have several elephants which are the main attraction to me. Josiah wanted to see sharks in the Aquarium. When we arrived in the afternoon, there wasn't a lot of time for us to see everything. (Strollers come in handy for speeding up trips.) We zoomed through the zoo seeking out the animals that are not at our local zoo. Our main focus was to find the elephants and sharks. Nathan really enjoyed seeing the Kodiak bear. He also pointed out the "mingos." That's flamingos in toddlerese. The elephant exhibit had two baby elephants! They were so cute.
checking out the elephantsthis is one big baby
oooo .... a swimming sea lion

Sea lions make a funny noise

polar bear

Josiah is in the polar bear trap

The Aquarium was wonderful - full of all sorts of water life: coral, fish, penguins, jellyfish and finally SHARKS.

pretty stuff One of the many sharks
Yep, it was a good trip. The ride home...... well, let's just say we were very tempted to speed.

Get me outta here!

Josiah's such a ham

I see you So sleepy....

Sunday, we went to church and spent the afternoon with family.
The Buffalo farm was on the agenda for Monday. We were told that the buffalo were in the back pastures. We kinda caused a buffalo stampede. I think they weren't used to strollers. When we headed back, the buffalo ran ahead of our little family to one of the front pastures. Oops. After leaving the farm, we stopped to visit some good friends of ours then headed home again.

These are NOT the spooked buffalo.

The next day, Josiah was the only one to go out. He enjoyed a fun day with Marcie at the Crawford County Fair. He told me that he saw a lot of animals and that he rode the Fair Wheel.
Of course, we had to see our own zoo. We visited with cousins. We played at the beach. We had a great time as we balanced keeping the boys rested and well as making memories. We topped it all off with a trip to Niagara Falls. That trip needs its own post.