We talked about it multiple times - trying to find a time to go - but then, in early-mid July, I saw that it was leaving soon (the last day for the exhibit was July 28). We realized that if we wanted to specifically see the pup room, we had to go now. We already had commitments the last two weekends of the month, so we headed up on July 12.
We went to the bank first to get some cash out and Max spotted a painted rock! He asked Dave to grab it for him - great find!
Someone in a mom group I belong to on Facebook had posted about a package deal for Indy - so I got the museum tickets as well as tickets to the Indianapolis Zoo plus booked the hotel for the night all in one discounted transaction.
We had to stop at the hotel first to check in and pick up our tickets - and the hotel gave us a welcome bag of goodies! Bottled waters, candy, chips, etc. - really nice! Dave went in to do that while the kids and I waited in the car and then we headed straight for the zoo.
The first animals we saw once we got into the zoo were the sea lions - they were super-active! Swimming in circles and jumping in and out of the water - very fun to watch!
Next, Lucy made friends with a stingray! He was really active, too - swimming all around.
They had a shallow area for these small sharks that you could touch - IF they got close enough to let you...which they did not...I think Lucy was able to graze one quickly with her finger but Max failed to make contact - they had fun trying, though!
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| An underwater view of those playful sea lions |
We spent a lot of time watching the penguins - and then watching the sea lions from down below. They had several different kinds of penguins - some really small and some pretty big...all very active!
Next, we watched a bird show. We got there just in time to see the macaws fly in and land on their perch. The staff taught us a bit about the birds and afterward, they all flew away...they flew really low to the ground and we could feel the wind they made as they flew past us - pretty cool.
After eating the lunches we'd packed, we saw the Bengal tiger...he was roaring!
When we got to the zoo, we had to select a time that we wanted to watch the dolphin show so we'd been trying to stay pretty close to their area to get inside at the right time. We all loved watching those cute dolphins do their thing!
Next, we all decided to get a treat - ice cream for me and the kids, beer for Dave!
We bought tickets for the Skyline ride but once we'd paid and gotten in line, we were told it was almost done running for the day...we decided to trade those tickets in for carousel rides and seed to feed the birds...after acting like birds first, of course!
After the birds, they both got to spot their favorite animals - the giraffe and the rhino!
Lots of rhinos cooling off in the mud...Max thought that was awesome.
After Max had fun running across the swinging wooden bridge!
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| Another sweet treat for these two... |
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| This elephant was on a mission! He was moving grass and straw all around - so cute! |
After a long and fun day at the zoo, we headed back to the hotel to get settled into our room. The hotel had an indoor pool and the kids couldn't wait to go check it out! It got pretty crowded in there (pretty small pool) but they didn't care - they were loving life!
We just ordered a pizza for dinner and ate it right in the pool area.
After There was no bathroom in the pool area (???!) so we had to walk across part of the lobby at one point to go...they got sucked into the news on the way...
After The next morning, they drank "coffee" (aka mugs full of mini marshmallows...) and goofed around a bit before it was time to head to our next adventure - the museum.
The original plan was to head up and go to the zoo, spend the night, do the museum the next day and head home after. But we were having so much fun on our little getaway - our first with just the four of us! - that we decided to stay in the hotel a second night. So we didn't have to pack up the car that day when we left the hotel to go to the museum since we'd be back to sleep there one more night.
We arrived at the museum and the loved the dinosaurs and Max was pumped to see the Paw Patrol car.
There is so much to do and see there - we just started at the bottom and worked our way up. Max was for sure excited about the Paw Patrol room and had a lot of fun in there - but, even though it was the inspiration for our trip, I don't know that it was his favorite part of the museum...just too much additional cool stuff!
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| Driving the Paw Patroler |
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| They had the most fun in "Porter's Cafe" serving treats! |
Posing with Rocky, Zuma, Skye and Tracker!
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| In the Sea Patroler |
Posing with Chase, Marshall, Everest and Rubble
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| In the Lookout Tower |
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| Lunch time! |
They had a really good time riding this little horse for some reason...the sign said it cost 5 cents to ride but I quickly ran out of nickels so we stuck a penny in there and it worked! It looks just like the penny horse at Meijer so we figured it was worth a try. They spent a lot of time and a lot of pennies on this horsey...
There was an outdoor sports area that hadn't been there at our last visit and it was SO COOL! We spent a long time playing basketball, soccer, football, mini golf...
There was also a really cool tree house out there in the sports area - they loved it!
Once we finally left the museum, we were ready for dinner - we went to a restaurant and were seated quickly but then never saw a server - not even to get drinks...we waited and waited but finally decided to just head back to the hotel...because since we were sleeping over another night, that meant we got another night of swim - and the kids wanted to maximize their pool time! We just swung through a drive-thru on the way back to the hotel.
Finally, after another wonderful but long day, we headed back to the room to get to bed.
Fun family adventure!
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