We spent Sunday, which was Reagan's actual 6th birthday, at the St. Louis Zoo. There were some beautiful tulips for my beautiful 6 year old to pose in front of on our way into the zoo. :)
Our amazing zoo crew! Thank you everyone for coming and joining in the fun! :)
Adorable best buddies waiting for the 4-D Yogi Bear experience - beyond cute! :)
Thank you Uncle Scott and Uncle Chuck for the many piggy back rides throughout the day :)
Our first stop was the petting zoo and Jackson and G agreed this jeep was pretty cool. Too bad it didn't go anywhere! :)
This is one of Grand-Dad's pictures and one of my favorite from the weekend, it just makes me smile. :)
Jackson having fun with a snake display
He also enjoyed the hippos
He wasn't particularly interested in the real thing, however... lol :)
We enjoyed a couple of rides on the train throughout the day. Here Aunt Kayci, Uncle Ran and G are waiting in line and hoping to get "Thomas" (the blue train).
The girls
Holden, Uncle Dan and Aunt Dorothy with Jackson and Tim
Uncle Ran and G ready to go! :)
Grammy, Aunt Arla and McKinley ready for her first train ride
Once off the train Jackson was ready with his map to show us the way. The boys were all so cute with their maps throughout the day.
Uncle Chuck, Aunt Julie and Reagan
Aunt Julie was such a good sport crawling through the log with Reagan
The stroller parade
The LaBar guys (I've got to get better at catching cute Jackson/Holden pictures - hopefully they'll become more cooperative in the next year or so - on the other hand I should probably be prepared that they may just not ever be as interested in posing as their older sisters)
The elephant on the other hand was so cooperative and I love this picture of Uncle Chuck and Reagan! :)
We were able to pet sting rays while at the zoo too. Thanks Uncle Scott for making sure no one fell in during the effort! lol :)
Holden working hard to touch the sting rays
Tigers are my favorite animals, they are so gorgeous!
One of the highlights from the day was this big guy, Juma, "The Boss." It was pretty quite by the gorillas when we first got to the enclosure.
The kids were able to get a good view of him and were just turning around to leave when...
BOOM! He came flying up to where they were and would periodically bang on the window as well as huffing at everyone and fogging up the window. It was so much fun and the kids (as well as the gorilla) went nuts! lol :)
Reagan and Uncle Chuck became pretty big Juma fans. The gorilla is now Reagan's second favorite animal only after dogs and I think this guy plays a pretty big factor in that.
Grammy and Miss McKinley posing with the chimpanzees during her first zoo trip. Missy K enjoyed getting a close up view of this chimp (even though he wasn't quite as entertaining as Juma).
I don't know if "Mr. Personality" was living up to his nickname or not, but it was fun to get a close up view of an orangutan as well.
A Kennedy and Grandma photo opportunity after visiting all the apes - boy did they put on a good show for us! :)
Because the St. Louis Zoo has free admission, we (Grammy) purchased Safari passes for all of us and one of the benefits was as many carousel rides as we wanted. The adults look like they had almost as much fun as the kids and it was of course McKinley's first ride. :)
Before Grammy and Grand-Dad headed back to Tennessee we had to snap a shot with them and the birthday girl. :)
McKinley getting lots of good love from Aunt Arla
Jackson and G chilling out in their strollers
High 5's
Grandma and the girls
Before Grandma and Grandpa headed out we were able to get a picture with all 5 grandkids! It probably helped that two of the five were sleeping... lol :)
After the zoo we headed over to the Andrasko's where they had a party set up for Missy Reagan complete with balloons and cake! Thank you so much Angie and Andy for both having us over and making the day a bit more special for Reagan! I just wish I had managed to get more pictures from the evening. If anyone else has some, please send them to me!!! :)
Back at the hotel Lucy and McKinley got to know each other a little better :)
One last picture of the birthday girl with her god-parents - thank you so much for coming from Wisconsin to join in the fun! :)
Thank you to everyone who traveled from Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee as well as the St. Louis locals who showed us a great time! The weekend wouldn't have been the same without all of you! We appreciate all the wonderful memories we made with you during Reagan's birthday weekend! We are so fortunate to have all of you in our lives and Reagan is one very loved, cherished and blessed little girl! :)
