Blank Park Zoo

We took our first family vacation this past weekend to Des Moines. On our trip we went to the Blank Park Zoo, swam in the hotel pool, and went shopping at Jordan Creek Mall. Ellie had a blast! She loved the zoo and continually pointed at every animal and said, "whats that?".

My favorite animal at the zoo were the giraffe, Jeremy liked a bull, and Ellie seemed to love them all.

Jeremy and his new friend :)

After the zoo we went to check into our hotel, ate supper and then went swimming in the pool. Ellie had a lot of fun swimming with daddy, and enjoyed watching the older kids play in the water.

We then put Ellie down for bed and the two of us stayed up for quite awhile on our room's deck talking, it was a fun night. The next day we grabbed breakfast, checked out and went to Jordan Creek Mall. I found some great deals at the Gap Maternity Store, and bought some cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. Ellie slept the entire way home...she was wiped. Needless to say our first family vacation was a success! I can't wait to take a similar trip next summer when we are a family of four.

More pics of the animals at the Zoo:

Peaceful LionsHe would not stop pacing...a bit freaky

They were beautiful...picture does not do them justice Close up :)ZebraMonkeys eating the bugs off of each other...YUCK!