Reston Zoo with Dee

Friday my mom came up and we took the girls to Reston Zoo.  We had a great time!
Paige walking up to the entrance with Dee.

Monkeys!  The girls were very excited about getting to see monkeys.  When one of the monkeys went back into their little house, Virginia started calling for him.  It was so sweet.  And he came back out for her.

Virginia watching the monkeys.

Virginia is a monkey!

Paige was not as excited as Virginia about being a monkey.

The girls also got to go for their first pony rides.  They weren't quite sure about riding on those big animals, though.  This is what Virginia looked like for her whole pony ride.

Dee tried to be the one to walk with Virginia, but she wanted her mommy.

Paige also wanted her mommy to walk with her on her pony ride.  Really, she clung to me for the whole ride.  But she didn't cry like Virginia did.

Right outside the corral where they have pony rides there is a trough full of sand.  Paige and Virginia loved played in that and didn't want to leave.  While we were in the pony ride area we met another set of twins- fraternal girls that are one month older than our girls, and one of them was also named Paige.

After pony rides we took the girls to see the kangaroos.  We actually got to see one of the kangaroos (this one actually) hop across the pen.  I'm not sure I'd ever seen a kangaroo hop before, so that was pretty neat.

Virginia, Paige and Dee watching the kangaroos.

Virginia, Paige, Dee and the kangaroos.

There was a lion for children to climb on at the zoo.  As soon as she saw it Paige ran right up to it and grabbed it's nose.  She was so excited.  These girls love "roars!"

Virginia sitting on the lion's back.  Could she be any happier?

Paige wasn't as excited to sit on the lion as she was to see it, but she still enjoyed sitting on its head as long as Dee was holding her.

I couldn't let Virginia and Paige have all the fun, so I climbed on the lion's back, too.

Paige wanted to climb on the lion's head and Virginia wanted to play with his tail.

Squirrel monkey

Paige on a rhinoceros's head.  She's so happy!

Our best attempt at getting a picture of both girls on the rhino.  Paige started to get off as soon as we got Virginia on it.

Dee, Paige and Virginia looking at birds.

Hanging out watching Dee.

Dee is a sheep!  Paige and Virginia didn't want to pretend to be sheep.

We hung out at the zoo long enough to go on the wagon ride through their safari area.  We got to see camels, llamas, bison, antelope, ostriches, emus, rheas, and others I can't think of right now.

This is my new friend the bison.  He came right up to the wagon (for food, of course) and I got to pet him.  I love bison, but never thought I'd actually get to pet one.  I even picked some food off up the bottom of the wagon and fed it to him.

Me and my new friend.

Sully the camel.  The two camels are locked up in a pen inside the safari area.  I asked the driver why they were locked up because they were very friendly, and she told me it's because they're big trouble makers.  They used to be out and they were always stealing things from people, so they got locked up.  We stopped, though, and got to hang out with Sully for a bit.  He's very sweet.

Dee and Virginia on the wagon ride.

By the time we left the zoo it was about 2:45.  Paige and Virginia normally nap from 1-4, so we were well into nap time.  I was okay with them getting short naps in the car because they both slept in late on Friday.  Virginia fell asleep and looked so sweet with her hands together.  Paige, on the other hand, skipped nap completely and talked the whole trip home- about 35 minutes or so.  I'd never heard her talk so much.

We had a great time at Reston Zoo.  They're closing for the year in a few weeks, so I don't think we'll make it back before next year.  We will definitely be going next year, though, hopefully more than once.