Weekend in St. Augustine/Jacksonville

Preston took Friday off work and we left in the morning for the zoo.  It was fun and both boys enjoyed seeing the animals.  They liked the otter, who was swimming around right by the glass and doing backward dives off the rocks.  The giraffes are always one of Brayden's favorites too.  You can feed the giraffes there if you pay (which we didn't) but even if you don't, the giraffes come right up to the deck you're standing on.  The monkeys were another big hit and we watched them for a while.  There were two little babies who were so cute!  The last favorite were the bobcats.  It was sleeping when we got there and Brayden said "Bobcat, wake up."  Haha.  It did actually wake up when it heard a bike coming because it knew its food was on the way.  Brayden called him the "big cat" and he LOVES cats.

Preston's mission Presidents were incredibly generous and offered to let us stay with them that night and they even showed us around St. Augustine a bit the next day.  Brayden loved the toys at the Warner's and made himself right at home.  I think they liked having the little boys around.  They were very sweet.  St. Augustine was a beautiful city and the Fort there was free due to it being National Park week.  Perfect!   They did a cannon shot and Brayden talked about it as a loud boom like fireworks. :)  If I remember right, St. Augustine is the oldest city in North America that has been consistently inhabited.  So it has a little English and Spanish influences.  It also is home to the oldest wooden schoolhouse in the US.  We didn't pay to go inside, but we walked by.

On our way home Saturday night we stopped by a friend's house because the Rick's were in town for graduation even though they moved last summer.  It was really fun to see them and their new baby!!  The boys were exhausted and we kept them up late partying, but they were very good sports.  Plus, they did sleep the whole way home (nearly 3 hours).

watching elephants

Swimming otter

pure joy while watching the otter play

a bright orange frog. they had blue ones and striped green ones too.

the worlds largest rodent.  Looks like my Mom's worst nightmare:)

The turtle coming in for it's portrait shot.  Notice all the moss on his shell.

Brayden loved the peacocks.  We might have pulled a fry
out of the trash for him to feed it....  Maybe :)

Zander was ready for a nap

Eating his own squeezable applesauce. He ate the whole thing.

The bird nest

Brayden crawling across the rope bridge

cute monkeys

the bald eagles. Majestic :)

A fountain at St. Augustine.

Atop the fort. The cannon that was shot is in the top left corner.

Entering the fort.

The world's oldest schoolhouse.

The Warners with the boys.

Brayden checking out a little shop.  He wouldn't try any on that were his size.

Playing Rockband at the Porters.