ZooLights

We decided it would be fun to go down to the National Zoo to go to ZooLights. This would have been especially fun given all the warm weather we’ve been having. Sadly, the day we chose to go ended up being really cold. But we bundled up and had fun anyway.

ZooLights

Rather than wait in lines and pay a lot for food at the zoo, we brought our own sandwiches. We found these picnic tables to eat dinner at while listening to these fun carolers sing.

Carolers

After dinner in the cold, we went into the reptile house to warm up and check out all the lizards, snakes, and frogs. Then we headed back out into the cold.

They set up 150 foot snow tubing tracks (which thankfully work just as well without snow) to slide down. You may not be able to see their faces, but that’s Leah on the left track and Molly starting down the right track. It had quite a line, but the girls said it was lots of fun.

Tubing slide

The girls weren’t the only ones to slide down the hill. Jen went down right after them.

Jen too

We then waited in a long line to go on the carousel. While I may have thought that the wait was not worth riding a carousel, the girls thought it was great.

The last thing the girls wanted to do at the zoo was ride the National Zoo Choo-Choo. Unfortunately, the train was charging when we went to ride it. We ended up waiting over an hour in the cold to go for a ride. It was so cold I decided to put on my Beard Head to keep my face warm.

Waiting for the train

It was very cold waiting in line, but I thankfully had a way to warm us up. I brought a 64 ounce insulated water bottle full of hot chocolate as well as a bunch of paper cups. Standing around in line was the perfect time to break it out (along with some snacks).

After waiting more than an hour, we boarded the tiny train. It rode around the Kids’ Farm exhibit (which is possibly the most boring part of the zoo to look at) and took a little over 3 minutes in total. Next time we’ll remember that the train is definitely something to skip.

Pathetic train ride

We had a great trip and would definitely go back. Next time we might go earlier in the day to do some of the zoo stuff before the lights part starts.

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