So anyway, I've been reluctant to go again... but yesterday was a whole different story. Very enjoyable for us all!
I worked in the AM from home so we didn't leave Greencastle til 11AM. When we got to Indy and drove toward the zoo, the line of school buses in the White River State Park area was incredible. I hadn't thought about the field trips this time of year! So the entry was FULL of kids at noon...we decided to go to Mug and Bun which is a 50s style drive in on the West side of Indy for lunch instead of fighting the crowds for substandard and expensive food at the zoo. Owen slept through lunch. After his initial confusion over us eating IN the van and having a tray hooked to our window (he wanted one hooked to his as well), Ben enjoyed the experience.
Owen woke just as we were arriving at the zoo, but wouldn't eat his burger or fries. (Keep track of what he ate during the day... so NOT an impressively nourishing combo for him yesterday!) It was 1PM as we hit the ticket line and realized that the zoo CLOSED at 4PM since it's so early in the season. That made us have to go on HIGH speed for the visit, for sure!
A couple of quick stops later we hit the Ostriches. One walks right past Owen and he starts yelling at him to come back in our direction. "Come here, come here! Back, back!" Ben has other plans and says to his dad "we should've brought a gun!" Jason: "Ben, this is a zoo." Ben replies, " but we could have some ostrich boots!" I couldn't hear all of this from where I was standing, but then I heard Jason trying to explain that it was better to let the ostrich die of natural causes and THEN make boots!
We picked up some popcorn along the way, so Owen had his first snack. I tried again to push the burger and fries that we had carried into the zoo, but a bite into the sandwich he declared "I don't like that" and spit it out. Jason, who was the ringleader on the popcorn purchase, got none as both boys devoured the stuff.The next eventful stop was at the goats. Yes, goats. Owen LOVED the chance to get in with the goats and pet them. Like every goat IN there had to be petted! He was even hugging the goats. Ben was less impressed and stood back for a bit, touching a goat here and there. He then climbed on the goat boxes, which was a no-no, and after we told him to get down, he was ready to leave the goats behind. Owen STILL stayed in there. Lots of cute pics from the goat visit. 
The same area had some cows and pigs, which were a highlight, as well as a spider and some small snakes. Owen was frustrated not to be able to pet the cows. Then came the horses... oh how Owen loves the horses! 
Jason and the boys got in line for the pony ride. I headed to the ticket kiosk to buy some rides. Pony rides are apparently $2.75 each (and we thought gas was high!)! The zoo has swapped out their attendant that sells tix in the carousel and pony area for an ATM of sorts where you have to use a debit or credit card. After finding that none of our cards would work (the machine was actually messed up), I went back over to tell Jason and the boys. Fortunately there was a kind attendant as the next machine was FAR away and the rides were about to close. She gave the boys a free turn and you'll see in the pics how much they enjoyed the ride! Owen decided that a "no-hands" approach was the best. He didn't stop smiling the whole time!
After the pony ride, Ben measured up against the horses (he's 10 hands!) while Owen took another look at the ponies. And another and another... We had to literally tear him away. He wanted me to take this pic of the ponies... and I did in the bargain to move him away... 
Next up was the dolphin show. I didn't get a pic of Owen's face in this one b/c I had to hold on to him the whole time... but he LOVED it so much. Ben liked it at first but then put his head on Jason's lap and tried to rest. Owen had a grin from ear to ear the entire time and just kept clapping. When a dolphin would jump and splash the kids in the splash zone Owen would yell "do again, do again!" It was very fun to see how much fun HE was having. Absolutely LOVED it! 
The giraffe stop... the boys really liked being so close to them.
We also got a close look at the lions and once again, Owen was bossing the animals. He kept saying "pet him, pet him" and "back here, back here" which made the folks around him laugh (and thus encouraged him even more!). A boy claimed to have gotten hit with lion pee (which I hear CAN happen) while we were standing there, so we made a quick exit... 
Owen was a good walker the whole trip. Ben preferred to ride in the stroller most of the time, but at this rare moment they were both walking AND holding hands.
We enjoyed the elephants for awhile. All of the boys were able to locate and identify elephant poop ... Ben had some questions about why it floated in the water. Good thing we had a vet handy. Ha!
The meerkats were also cool - for Ben, because we had watched Meerkat Manor on Animal Planet. Owen just thought they were fun - he said "WOW" several times. The boys liked the snakes more than I did, but I don't think there's much chance that Ben will ask for a snake as a pet. Owen, on the other hand...This pic was in the aquarium... Ben found the eel to be pretty fascinating. 
Then finally, the last stop in the aquarium and the highlight of the day for both boys... petting sharks! The tank had probably 20-30 sharks in it. Ben was a bit uncertain at first... knowing that sharks "bite" he wasn't sure he wanted to put his hand in. Owen would have gotten IN the tank if we'd have let him! They both got a chance to pet several as the zoo attendant shared with us that there are over 400 breeds of sharks and only 10 breeds have ever hurt man.
In a rare moment at the end of the zoo trip, both boys posed for a picture! Of course we were headed to the gift shop and they both wanted souvenirs... which probably weighed into their compliance with this picture.
Oh and for those tracking the food for the day... Owen had a few bites of ice cream before we left the zoo. Jason did not buy the kind he/we ordered, so he stole some bites from his brother (who DID get the right kind) -- not well-received! After leaving the zoo I offered Owen the chance to pick what kind of drinks we got -- he picked "sweet tea!" (of course Ben wanted a frozen coke... so he had a frozen coke from BK and Jason, Owen and I had sweet tea from McD's). We did get some nuggets from McD's (it's like 4:30PM by now!) and Owen ate 2 while in SAMS. An hour later both boys had popcorn AND pretzel gold fish from Target. Then at 8:30 PM... finally -- supper at Red Robin. So much for food that "makes you grow!"
It was a long but fun day -- Ben's recap focused on the sharks, the shark tooth from the gift shop, the "nice" shark he got from the gift shop, and his new shoes (NOT from the zoo)! Owen's - the sharks and the dolphins... oh, and the pony. Good thing we ventured out of Greencastle yesterday and expanded our horizons at the zoo. Where can you take a $2.75 (but free for the people that can't work the ATM thing) pony ride in Greencastle?
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