The great reward

When Lt was potty training, we promised the child anything and everything if he would just use the toilet. Nothing could bribe him. Nothing. Among the bribes of a milkshake, any toy from Toys 'R' Us, time on the iPad, a million dollars, and the moon, was a trip to the zoo. Well, after almost a year of attempted potty training, the light at the end of the tunnel appeared to be nonexistent. But we really, really wanted to take the boys to the zoo since they hadn't been in  a couple years. So we decided to go ahead and go under the guise of a celebration for D graduating from Kindergarten (and a promise to Lt that we would go again if he ever decided to poop on the potty).

The zoo was great. They have made a ton of improvements since the last time we went - very nice. It was great to have our friend Kiri come with us too so that the ratio of kids to adults was evenly matched (making the chances of a full-blown mutiny a little smaller). And the boys had a great time. D said his favorite part was the carousel. And the zoo train. And after I reminded him about the bird show, he added that to the list. Guess we'll have to actually check out the animals next time we go...

 

Here are the boys with their zoo maps on a serious hunt to find the snakes (that was Lt's mission literally the entire time).

Which monkey is Nono looking at??

Round two of the carousel. The boys had to share the praying mantis because there were at least 15 full-grown adults hogging the other animals.

And here's Nono on round one of the carousel. Not as excited as the brothers. (He skipped round two.)

Okay, the bird show was pretty intense, as you can tell from D's face. There were hawks and falcons and other deadly birds of prey flying right over our heads. Literally. We could've reached up and touched them. I was afraid one of them was going to fly off with Nono.

Nono, while not as enthusiastic as D, really liked the show too (for about 10 minutes). His favorite part was the talking green parrot. Nono laughed and clapped after everything the parrot said. It was hilarious.

After the show was over, they were accepting donations. Each of the big boys gave a dollar to that pretty cockatoo to put in the box. They loved it.

But it gets even better. If you know about D's obsession with birds of prey, then you know he about died when they announced that you could get your picture taken with an eagle! Best day ever. But doesn't that eagle look like it is going to fly off with one of the boys?? Yikes!

Nono waiting to board the zoo train

Lt waiting to board the train, carefully following the instructions to stand on or behind the circle

Choo-choo!

And the little boss fell asleep about five minutes after we got in the car. He was all tuckered out after a long day of animal watching.

Oh, and just so you know, Lt is now, three weeks later, officially potty trained. He just up and did it one day and hasn't looked back since. A true Christmas miracle.