Mahbub is a professor and the winter break has rushed to an end. We wanted to do one last family outing/family event before he had to be back at work today. We had thought about going to Atlanta because that is one of our favorite places to go but we've been pinching pennies so we decided to opt for Jacksonville instead.
We went and spent a whole day at the Jacksonville Zoo. Nasif loves animals and he loved every minute of it. They had so many different kinds of birds, snakes, and frogs. They had an ostrich, zebras, elephants, giraffes, white rhinos, bongos, alligators, apes and a couple different kinds of monkeys, bats, anteaters, komodo dragons, sting rays, and more. We walked through all the exhibits. It was a really nice time and the weather was perfect!
Nasif's highlights from the zoo:
* Petting the stingrays - He said, "I don't want to touch that it feels disgusting." I just took his hand and plunged it into the water and made him pet it and then he broke out in giggles.
* Feeding the Giraffe Luna - He begged us to do this and giggled nonstop. Did you ever see how long a giraffe's tongue is? Did you know that their tongues are black so they don't get sunburns?
* Ridding the zoo train - This was his first train ride. From the moment we walked into the zoo and he heard the train whistle he was asking us to go.
* Seeing the Anteater - Nasif said, "He shouldn't be called an anteater. He should be called an ant vacuum."
* Petting the goats
* Sitting under the penguins and watching them swim
After the zoo we went to our hotel and checked in and then went to dinner. At dinner Nasif informed us, "I can't sleep at the hotel. You didn't bring my bed here. Is my bed in the trunk?"
The next day we went to the Jacksonville MOSH. That was a lot of fun too. They have an exhibit for kids about inside the body. When you enter you walk in through this huge mouth. Nasif wasn't too sure he wanted to be "eaten", but once inside he loved it. They had all kinds of body parts and they had a giant heart that showed how blood is pumped and flows through. There were robotic arms that kids could use to pick up different items. They had a burping machine and a farting machine too. There were quite a few hands on experiments. The next exhibit was the Atlantic Ocean with whales, manatees, and dolphins. They also had 1 allosaurus. That was a huge hit with Nasif. They also had a water exhibit in which Nasif enjoyed turning water on and letting it flow down "dirty pipes" (Thank you Sid the Science Kid!). There was also an animal exhibit with snakes, frogs, turtles, alligators, an opossum, lizards, and owls. Nasif loved the owls! There was also a very interesting exhibit called Weird Matter. It was full of different science experiments for kids to do. Nasif went crazy in there playing with everything. He especially liked the handheld microscope and was putting it on everything to see all the little details. The part of the museum that Nasif didn't like was the history of Florida/Jacksonville. I know it was boring for him though because it was mainly adult oriented.
After the MOSH we went to the River walk and marina and walked around. It was to rain and have thunderstorms but the weather was actually beautiful and just absolutely perfect. We took lots of pictures and videos.
Our time was very short but full of fun and enjoyment and most importantly family time. We cannot wait to go again to Jacksonville, and feel sorry we didn't go sooner! We saw a lot of things we'd like to check out in the future.
Today it is back to normal. I'm feeling an itch to re-organize and re-arrange my house since we're back and I think I just might undertake it!
Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our trip:
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