a day at the cincinnati zoo | summer adventures

summer is HERE and we are soaking up every single second.
sunscreen. sunshine. zoo trips. kings island. family vacas. the days are longer and we are here for it.
i’ve started asking for more ‘experience’ gifts than ‘stuff’ for christmas and birthdays and boy has it paid off. i’m all about making memories with the fam and especially when the warmer weather hits, i’d rather be outside exploring and ‘doing’ rather than being inside so when my mom asked if we wanted to head to the zoo with her and my nephews, of course i hopped on the opportunity!

the zoo is one of those places that i feel like i can conquer on my own with the kids and have an awesome time so we typically wind up making the trip down multiple times in a month {zach usually makes it down 2x per year with us!}. we for sure get the most out of our passes with free parking, free train rides and early admission. the great thing about the zoo is you can pack your own lunch making this virtually a cost-free trip once the pass has been paid for {aside from gas} + the $3 we pay to feed the giraffes!

we have so many favorites but the most anticipated part of the day is always feeding the giraffes… which we do every. single. trip. and it just doesn’t get old. the staff is so good about answering all of our questions, letting us take pictures and enjoying the experience…so it’s typically the first thing we do when we get there!

we typically have a pretty routine route through the zoo but i know we’re missing some animals so it’s my goal this year to let the kids pick which ways they want to go and just explore!

one of my favorite discoveries has been this little remote space tucked back behind a building that we’ve deemed the zen garden… we usually claim the space and hang out in the shade while i feed maisley and we all rest a minute for some much needed lunch. we met up with some family friends for lunch + a train ride which was so fun!!

then it’s time for the train, the bears and i usually make a pit stop for some ice cream before making our final rounds and looping our way out of the zoo. by this time the kids {and my calves…} are exhausted and i’m running on borrowed time to see just one more animal. the elephants are typically the final stop before heading out and if we’re lucky we get to catch bath time!!

it was such a special treat to have my mom + nephews there….the kids are all the best of friends and my mom is seriously my superhero. i keep wondering when i’ll wake up and be her.