4th of July Fireworks and Visiting the Portland Zoo

We went down to Portland to enjoy the 4th of July holiday with Nate's parents and grandparents and this year we were excited to see how Abby would participate in the firework festivities. (Her first 4th had her watching the fireworks with a "what in the world is that" look on her face and last year we didn't do any fireworks as it was so dry at home.) After a yummy BBQ we decided to go outside and light up the few fireworks we purchased. Since I knew that screamers were out of the picture we got the Pop Its, a few Snakes, Sparklers, a kind that sets off little colored shoots of sparklers, and one "big" firework that lit up with different colors and types of bangs. All in the 1 "loudness" category.

At first we had Abby standing on the ground and throwing the Pop Its but they wouldn't pop for her. Grandpa got the great idea to hold her and see if gravity would help make them pop. Sure enough Abby was soon popping her own fireworks!

We kept trying to get her to thrown them in front of her, but she preferred to toss them over her shoulder.

She's so proud of herself!

Then we moved on to sparklers. Notice how she's as far away from the sparkler as possible while still holding on to it. She wasn't so sure about these.

Next were the snakes. And what a dud they were. They were supposed to either light up or blow off different colors of smoke but instead all we got was a black mess that ended up looking like a pile of poo. Oh, well, at least they were cheap. Abby did enjoy watching the snakes twist and turn as they burned up.

Second to last were the ones that set of colored sparks. It was kind of cute, even though I did feel bad for her. Abby started to walk over to where Nate was lighting the fireworks when the first one went off and started shooting off sparks. Abby jumped in the air, squealed, and ran back to Grandpa. I don't think she liked these. Not pictured is the big fire work we got because as soon as we set that sucker off Abby ran to me, demanded to be picked up, then kept asking to go inside. :-)

Later on that weekend it was decided that it was finally time for Abby to visit the Portland Zoo. After a quick family discussion it was decided that Abby, Dave (Nate's Dad), and I would go. We road the Metro into the Zoo instead of driving and, while it probably took a little bit longer, Abby had a blast riding the "train".

Abby on the "train". I'd have gotten further away to take a better picture but sitting across the aisle from us was a gentleman who I don't believe was fully in his right mind. So I was perfectly content taking a too-close picture.

I was pretty amazed when we literally were dropped off at the entrance to the zoo. A quick elevator ride up to the outside level and a walk across the street and there we were. We even got a discount on our tickets for taking the Metro instead of driving. I knew we didn't have a lot of time before we needed to head out again so I found the best path to get to the elephants (Abby's favorite) and we began our journey.

Checking out the bears. Since the bear was sleeping I don't think she really knew why we thought it was so cool to be watching a bear.

She much preferred checking out the turtle who was swimming around in his tank.

And here she is having a blast playing in the dirt. Aren't kids silly? All these exotic animals to look at, but the second we walked across a dirt path she wanted to sit down and play. Five minutes later she was still playing. I "encouraged" her to keep moving on to the next exhibit.

We finally got to the elephants! Abby was mesmerized by one elephant that was walking in circles. Abby kept pointing and saying "spin, spin".

We were also fortunate that the baby elephant decided it wanted to be playful that day.

Here s/he is wresting with Mom. It was too cute to watch!

After the elephants Abby found some steps and kept telling Grandpa and I to sit down next to her. I think she must have climbed up and down these steps a half-dozen times before we were able to move on.

We ended our journey with a visit to the lions. Abby watched them pretty well for a minute or to but as soon as she saw these statues she had zero interest in the real thing.

Having a ball climbing!

After we saw the lions it was definitely time to head home and have lunch. Abby had been doing a good job on being happy with a handful of M&Ms and some animal cookies but I knew that good behavior wouldn't last. We did make one final stop at the gift shop where Grandpa kindly bought Abby a stuffed wolf (why she beelined for the wolf when we never saw one I have no idea) and a stuffed snake (which she proceeded to wrap around her body to keep it safe). She still loves to play with the snake by bringing it towards you and saying "ssssss" just like the snakes do! We were five minutes from home when her little eyes fluttered shut and she passed out. It's hard work visiting the zoo!

I'm looking forward to the next time we go. This time I definitely want to make sure we are able to ride the little train that goes around a portion of the zoo. I think she'd get a real kick out of that since she's so into watching trains right now.