Portland: The zoo...

Today we took the kids to the Oregon Zoo.

It was an adventure, to say the least, but definitely a great time to take Lola -- she couldn't get enough.

Let's review the day in pictures, shall we?

We started out on our adventure fully charged and ready to become one with the animals.

We ditched Lola's umbrella stroller since it always becomes the source of an epic battle over who should be the one to push it.

And to clarify, the battle is fought between we the parents and Lola, because even though it's about three feet taller than her, she insists on being the one to control its destination.

Wow, tangent.

As you can see, Lola was a bit obsessed with petting the animal sculptures.

I think she felt a little robbed by the fact that the real animals were kept behind glass and cages.

She would have hopped right on the "kitty's" back if not for that fence...

She went wild for the "Dorys" swimming around in the sea lion tank.

We're on a Nemo kick at our house.

This chick digs her daddy these days.

It's a good thing I've got James to keep me company, though I'm pretty sure he only tolerates be because of my chest.

 Lo was so enthralled with the animals that she forgot about her binky, which is a thing we have come to hate.

Though the little lisp it has given her is admittedly adorable, it makes it extremely difficult to take decent pictures of her smile.

So I was thrilled to capture some great evidence of that elusive little emotion.

Good gracious my kid is gorgeous.

 She spent 99 percent of the time asking us questions about the animals: what their names were, where they lived, whether or not they would enjoy fishy crackers.

She constantly amazes me while at the same time reminding me that my first baby isn't really a baby anymore.

 For Lola, the elephants were the star of this show -- though she spent an ample amount of time barking at the zebras.

She yelled "A BABY ONE! A MOMMY ONE! A DADDY ONE!" over and over until we had to finally shut it down with a pack of fruit snacks.

It was quite cute and I kind of fell in love with her a little more.

 She was very serious about the map.

When Reece's direction-following skills (or lack thereof) didn't suffice, she didn't hesitate to take over.

But where was Mr. James, you might ask?

He spent the day squished in the Moby wrap as we frantically tried to protect him from the sun, lest we be deemed the worst parents in the universe.

He did pop out of his little hiding place to say hello (and eat) a few times.

In the words of his big sister, "Awwww, cuuuuuuuute!"

Both kids did exceptionally well until the very end, when I accidentally led Lola smack into a glass door.  

She was pretty distracted by the turtles on her sandals (not real turtles, in case you were wondering).

It was sad and funny all at the same time, and from that point on it was a race back to the front entrance.

We spent the evening recovering from our adventure.

Lola spent a good deal of time snuggling with her idol on the couch, while I spent a good deal of money that I shouldn't have spent at the local H&M.

The kids section, dudes.

It's DANGEROUS.

Oh, and the bats at the zoo?

Disgusting.

And on that note...