MOMS Club at Belleview Park

Oliver and I don't make it out to MOMS Club activities very often. They tend to be scheduled at 10am and 11am, which is about when he starts his naps. One of the moms planned an outing at a park down south and mentioned it had a petting zoo. I've always wanted to take Oliver to a petting zoo, so I decided we'd go even though it would fall during Oliver's normal nap time.

Unfortunately, Oliver was crabby all day, and going out at nap time just made it worse. He wasn't interested in any of the kids, and he freaked out when I pulled him out of his stroller at the park. He continued to whine until we boarded a little train that goes around the park. It was free for him (under 2) but $1.50 for me. It was worth it. Oliver looked tired but happy. He liked seeing all the kids around the park waving as the train went by, and never once did he try to get out of his seat. I held his hand through the tunnel, but it didn't scare him one bit.

After the train ride, we went to the petting zoo. It was the same price as the train, and I thought it was OK. By that time, a bunch of day camps had arrived, and there were dozens of older kids playing with the animals. It was also getting hot. Oliver liked to see the goats and said, "Goat," and he really liked to see the cow. He said, "Moo!" to the cow. He wasn't interested in petting or touching the animals, though. He got rocks in his shoes and didn't want to put his shoes back on after I removed them. So, I was stuck carrying him around the petting zoo (no strollers). I decided it was time to leave the little zoo, so we got in line. There's a line to leave because they want everyone to wash their hands afterwards. It makes sense, but standing behind 20 kids from day camp just to leave meant we stood in the sun for 15 minutes. Oliver was angry that I was holding him; I was frustrated from the heat. I just wanted out.Finally, finally, we made our way out. I lost the other moms from MOMS Club and decided they must be down at the creek. There's a creek that runs through the large park. Some areas are very shallow and perfect for older babies and young toddlers. Other areas are deeper, and those areas have a lot of older kids jumping and splashing. It's nice that there are separate areas so everyone has a good place to play. Unfortunately, it was too hot and too late in the day for us to play down at the creek. We left, but I have every intention of taking him back another morning, maybe around 9am to avoid the big crowds and the hot sun. As we left, I noticed there were about a dozen cars circling the parking lots, trying to find spots to park. Yeah, 11am is definitely not a good time to go! It was busy, busy. I even think 10am was a late start time, but the train and zoo don't open until then.

I really want to take Oliver back. Maybe we'll go with Andrew this weekend to play in the creek and then do another ride in the train before leaving.