New Zoo & Diddley's

My friend and I found ourselves with our husbands away on a Saturday.  One traveling to China  (hers) and one playing golf (mine!)  We were determined to stay busy so we packed to kids up and headed for Bloomington to go to the Miller Park Zoo.     I had to "borrow" this picture from the City of Bloomington website because I failed to take a picture myself.  I would drive back just for this playground!  The kids loved it!  I commented to my friend that it felt like the kind of thing you would do on vacation.  We came prepared with swimsuits, but the water wasn't on when we got there so the kids just did the playground.  The splash pad would have been hours of fun though too!  The kids played on the playground for quite awhile before we even headed into the zoo.    I think they wanted to pet the pig but weren't really sure if they were supposed to! This zoo was smaller than our zoo but had different animals so the kids were entertained.  It only took about an hour to walk through it.  We ended with a carousel ride.  It is thrilling to go up and down and in a circle, all at the same time!  We headed home for naps and then make our plans for the evening. As it ended up Brandon's golf finished early and he joined us for dinner.  We decided to go to Diddley's.  I wanted to eat outside because the weather was gorgeous, Brandon wanted a corn dog.  Diddley's offered both!  They used to be a car hop - it is now just a restaurant but we placed an order for take out and were able to eat outside on the picnic tables.  There was a playground for the kids to play on.  We had forgotten to put shoes on Grant, or put any in the car for him, so he went barefoot and was absolutely filthy when we left. Diddley's is so much more than just food and a playground though.  They have a  train, a little ferris wheel and carousel, mini golf and a drive in movie screen.  The movie had been cancelled for the night but they opened the rides for the kids and let them ride for free!  I don't know that the kids even cared if they ate dinner, they just wanted to play!  It was entertaining to listen to my friend try to explain Diddley's to her family over the phone.  Diddley's is just one of those places that you have to go to and experience it for yourself!    We had a fun day and our mission was accomplished...we stayed busy and had tired (dirty) kiddos!