Simkins Reunion - Hogle Zoo

For the Simkins Reunion this year, Scott & Josie were in charge and decided they wanted to go stay at Randy's parents cabin in Midway.  We all drove up Thursday evening and got things set up for the weekend.  We've stayed at the cabin for past reunions but it's been a couple years since we'd been there and we've about outgrown it.  Right now we have 8 kids 3-years old and under so things are kind-of chaotic when we all get together but it all makes for good memories...right? Ü

Friday morning we got up and got ready and headed down to Salt Lake to go to Hogle Zoo.  We took the boys there when Alex was about a year old so it's been almost 5 years since we'd been there and they didn't have lions last time so we were excited to hear they had some this time.

Gotta have a drink from the lion's mouth

It's hard to see but there's a lion in the back Ü

The boys love to follow any kind of map...especially zoo maps

One of Halen's favorite animals is the gorilla

This was the best pic we could get of the big guy

Gotta love the orangutangs

Alex loves the elephants

Mia wasn't too excited about the elephants :(

We couldn't talk Mia into riding the carousel but the boys had fun

The guy was struttin' everything he had

We were the last ones to leave the zoo that afternoon.  Everyone else left earlier to put kids down for naps but we hung around until we saw every animal there.  And before we left we of course had to take a ride on the new train through the safari area of the zoo.  It's better than it used to be but still not much to it.  It's all for the kids though, right?

We stopped and got slurpees to cool down before heading back up to the cabin.  That night we just hung out and had dinner and let the kids play until it was time for bed.  Everyone else in the family go to bed earlier than we do so I finished baking a cake and cupcakes for Mia's birthday the next day after everyone went to bed and Randy & I sat out on the deck in the dark enjoying the cool weather.  The cabin's always a nice getaway for that.