Big trip for the Mitchell family. Erika’s cousin Heather was graduating from high school in Fredericksburg, Virginia. So we packed up half the house into the car, grabbed the girls and drove the 7+ hours to Virginia. Nearly all of Erika’s family were expected to be there, most staying in Erika’s aunt and uncle’s house. So, we expected the weekend to be filled with adventure.

First stop was the Washington Zoo. Now, on paper, this didn’t look like a great idea. We were going to goto Washington DC, on a Friday and brave traffic, subway, Zoo, crowds, heat and who knows what else for a glimpse of some animals. We are usually not ones to shy away from an adventure, so we agreed when Erika’s cousin promised that all would be easy.

5 children between the ages of 6 months and 4 years went with 6 adults. We drove, then took 2 different trains and then walked another half mile to get to the zoo. That’s a 2 hour trip to travel the 40+ miles between Aunt Lori’s house and the Zoo. However, we made it in one piece with smiles intact…

Welcome to the Zoo!

Yes, of course we took a picture of our family!

The Mitchell Family!

Once in the Zoo, Mira grabbed a few kids and heading straight to the mist machine. Running and getting wet. That’s what it’s about to a four year old. We could have probably save ourselves 4+ hours of travel if we just would have turned on the hose at Lori and George’s house.

Are you wet yet?

We spent some time looking at animals, but quite frankly Mira was not terribly interested in animals that should couldn’t touch or ride. And of course, we all know that a giant panda would sooner maul her than actually take Mira for a ride. Mira did find a giant statute of a griffin that she was able to sit on and pose for a bit. You can see how hot and humid it was. Take a look at those crazy curls!

So content...

Cousin Darcy eventually found her way onto the griffin and we were lucky enough to find out how Darcy wasn’t sharing her turn with Mira. Gotta love watching little girls argue about sitting on a statue that they didn’t know existed 3 seconds earlier. And the best part is that Darcy isn’t really talking that much yet, so mostly it’s just Mira screaming that, “Darcy’s not listening!” They did make up shortly after this as we found yet another mister and it was time to get wet again!

Summer and water

We started to get a bit hungry after this and cousin Heather, who was kind enough to let us drag her all over the zoo got Mira a treat. You know it as a lemon chill. However, you will be surprised to find out that it’s actually, “Vanilla ice cream.” And Mira was only happy enough to have cousin Heather, feed her some vanilla ice cream.

Mmmm, lemony!

Yes, Mira is wearing a pink zoo hat. And yes I did get suckered into buying it for her. Does that really surprise you at this point?

We packed things up shortly after this and tried our best to smile for the 2+ hours of brutal travel back to Lori and George’s house. On the train ride back, Erika’s cousin Jeremy and his son Jaden kept Mira very entertained!

Good times!

And yes, Luna and Erika were there all day. They are troopers. Here they are on the train ride back.

Four girls

We had a wonderful time at the zoo. I’m sure that the highlight for Mira was the water mist machines and the vanilla ice cream. Yeah, four bucks and a hose would have probably done the same thing. But then again, I wouldn’t have anything to write about and our lives would be simple and uneventful.

Up next, the big party and then a trip to the pool!