The Zoo and Mexico Trip

On March 22nd, we went to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake. We figured that Oliver can pay enough attention now and understands enough to enjoy the animals. He got to see elephants, seals, a polar bear, leopard, gorilla, other monkeys, llamas, birds, and small animals too. His favorite was the sand cats, which are a little smaller than house cats. They were very playful!

Watching the leopard pace back in forth - thank goodness for the glass separating us from him!

He about measures up to the size of an infant gorilla

He finally anticipated seeing me going around on the carousel enough to wave!

Doing his friendly sniff (don't ask me, but he does this to Zoe) which means he really likes the sand cats!

Watching the sand cats

He ran back to the sand cats to watch some more

A monkey (just like Curious George, we told him)

He liked the animals he was on the same level with

On the elephant trunk

The following Wednesday, we headed out for our trip to Mexico. We drove the whole way! We drove down to Las Vegas (6 hour drive) first and stayed with Jan's family for the night and next morning. Oliver had a hard time sleeping on the drive down. He had to hold my hand or have me hold his foot in order for him to fall asleep. Even so, he was waking up every 15 minutes. Once we tried to put him to bed that night, he wouldn't sleep on his own, which has never happened before. He slept with me in bed while Jan found refuge elsewhere.

On Thursday afternoon, we headed down to Arizona (4 hours) and stayed at the Wakefield's for the night. Oliver stayed up the whole way, until 5 minutes before we got there. Thankfully it made him tired enough that he slept by himself without a fuss. While there, we prepared a meal for our stay in Mexico, and Jan switched all of our luggage to a different car. That was a late night!

Early the next morning, we woke up to get ready and head down to Mexico (4 hours). Oliver threw up TWICE on the way down, because he just had his milk and was not used to the rolling roads. So, to sum it up, getting there was a nightmare for me! But it was well worth it! I haven't been to the beach in years!

No reservations! He plunged right in and loved it!

Loving the water and the sand!

Enjoying the beach

Playing with his new sand toys

Time with Daddy

Enjoying the sun

Becoming addicted to Goldfish

Family - Downtown

We all got a little sunburned by the end, despite my vigorous attempts to put sunscreen on me and Oliver frequently. It was definitely a much needed vacation from our monotonous life, and we had a great time with friends. I'm also happy to say that the drive back to Utah was much better. Oliver slept most of the way - he was absolutely drained from all the fun and lack of sleep. When we got home, he was very happy to have all of his toys back! Hopefully we will have more sunny beaches in our future!