Going out of town this weekend.  Heading to Des Moines to the Blank Park Zoo and visiting with some family.  We got to town late Friday and checked into our hotel.  The boys were excited to see the hotel room and check out the pool.  After dinner and swimming I took the boys on a walk outside since it had cooled off.  They had a big open lot behind the hotel that was nice.  We looked for treasures and watched the sun set.

When we got up it was ready to get dressed in our cool clothes and get ready to go see all the animals at the zoo.  Muscle shirts - check.  Excited boys - check.  Happy mom and dad - check!

The Kruse clan is going to meet us at the zoo, but we got there first since we needed to occupy our boys.  We were greeted at the door by the snake lady.  To our surprise Daniel touched the snake but Sammy didn't.

There was a whole indoor section at the beginning that was very cool.  All kinds of fish and frogs.

Even Nemo was there!

We got to see the flamingos when we exited the indoor part.  Very pretty.  One of my favorites.  Watching them walk is so fun.

Shortly after we got done with the indoor displays Josh, Rachelle, Bennet, Chloe and Kaya arrived with Yaya and Pops.  We were impressed with the zoo even if it was super hot outside.

Pretty cool, daddy rode the camel with Sammy.

Everyone was crazy for the little penguins. They had the perfect spot at the zoo.  In the water with some shade and they even had a waterfall to play under.

All the cousins enjoying the show.

In this picture the Emu was on the sidewalk and the boys were all deciding to walk forward or not.  When they did start to walk forward Sammy went right up the the large animal and goosed it on the butt!  It was so cute and the Emu took off!

Throughout the park there were large dinosaur eggs.  All three boys fit inside this one together.

This egg must be a two person egg.

Oops, guess not, it IS a three person egg.  Maybe a four person if Chloe gets herself in there.

After a hot morning at the zoo it was nap time for some of the kids.  We checked into the Adventureland Resort and the boys were totally amazed at the poolside room we had.  It wasn't easy when planning the trip to find a hotel with a poolside room, but I managed and it was worth the effort.

Growing up I remember many poolside rooms when we went on our travels.  This was fun.  We did alot of swimming and after some rest time for the girls everyone came to our room for dinner.  Bennet got to swim with his cousins and uncle Dusty for quite a while.  Uncle Josh joined in the fun also.

It was a super weekend and Yaya and Pops were a big help to have around as well as good company.  It is so nice to get to see Bennet, Chloe and Kaya (and Josh and Rachelle too of course) so often this past year.  Great to see them growing up.