Hollen Adventures | The Denver Zoo

One of the other things we did over Ryan's vacation week was go to the Denver Zoo with Grammy and Ga Ga. Almost 3 years ago to the day, we made this trip with Marin and my nephew Gunnar. Looking back at those photos, Marin was so little! She was just beginning to walk around and was still in her infant car seat. It's amazing to me how much she has grown into such a little girl now, no longer a baby. (Excuse me while I shed a silent tear....) 

I didn't listen to my mother very well with this trip because she told me it was going to be pretty busy and I didn't think it would be...We went on the day when teachers all over Colorado were doing a walkout and protest. I fully support the cause but oh boy, the zoo was crazy busy! Since the schools were closed that day, every other family seemed to have the same idea we had. Even though it was super crazy and very hard to find a parking spot, we still enjoyed the time so much. 

Most of our day was spent walking around the zoo looking for the animals. Going during the day is always slightly disappointing though because a lot of the animals are not out. But, I love just walking around in the sunshine with my family. My ultimate goal was to not get anyone sunburnt though so I was on sunscreen patrol pretty much all day. 

We had packed our lunches and ate out on the lawn under the trees. By the end of the day, both kids has a bunch of stains on their clothes from oranges and ice cream. I feel that is a sign that fun was had and the day was well worth it. We had sandwiches, oranges, chips, nutter butters. 

After lunch we kept walking all throughout the zoo. We wanted to see the elephant show they put on but it was too packed. So instead we decided to get some ice cold beer for the adults and some ice cream for the kiddos. It was a great way to cool down and sit for just a bit. Marin said that her favorite part was the giraffes. I always like the penguins. Sullivan enjoyed most to  the day in the stroller and ended up falling asleep at the tail end of the day. 

Before the drive home, we stopped at Voodoo Donuts on Colfax. It's tradition. It took a long time for us to get our Voodoo Dozen because a lot of teachers had the same idea. But, they are always well worth the wait. 

I enjoy taking little day trips like this. We would love to go to the aquarium and visit the museum again. I just wish our work schedules allowed us to do more things like this more often. Someday our schedules will change and we will have a day during the week that we can spend as a family.  I am praying for that. Someday.