Zoo Baby

We have been waiting for two things to happen so that we could take Jack to the zoo. 1) dropping the morning nap 2) the weather to cool off. Well, both of the criteria were met in the past month. However, one or both of us have been out of town every weekend since that. Finally today, Clay, Jack and I were here and ready. And boy, had the weather cooled off! We started our trip to the zoo with the temperature in the 50s. A little chilly for me, but about halfway through our zoo tour the weather really warmed up and it turned out to be a perfect day. I'm assuming that most of the animals weren't enjoying the chilly temps either, because we had trouble finding any signs of life initially. Clay and I were beginning to wonder if this zoo trip just might be a bust. However, like I said the weather warmed up and the animals came out to play. We spent the majority of our visit pointing, repeating animal names 2o times, and trying to hold Jack up to see the creatures. Once J was finally able to spot what Mommy and Daddy were referring to, ahhh...then he was a happy zoo baby. The first animal that really caught his attention was the enormous Gorilla and his family. Jack repeatedly shouted, "lilla" over and over again. Oh and believe me, it didn't stop once we left the gorilla exhibit. Nope, it continued to the monkeys, the orangutans, and the chimpanzees. Everything was a "lilla". He even chose his "Goodnight Gorilla" book to read tonight at bedtime. Our whole visit was worth that one gorilla sighting. We continued on with the elephants, tigers, lions, pandas, and then the petting zoo. And once we entered the petting zoo gate, our little zoo baby was in heaven again. He had to pet every goat, touch every "wee wee" (pig), and "baa baa" at every sheep. His favorite activity in the petting zoo?...well, that was brushing the animals. So sweet and gentle with every stroke--he absolutely loved it! Following the animal grooming (which seemed to last forever), Jack went on his first Merry Go Round ride with Daddy. He chose the elephant, because obviously there was no "lilla". Once the ride stopped, Jack headed to the bear for another go round. Why should he have to get off? I let Daddy do that explaining. We ended our visit with lunch and a little park play at the zoo playground. And I now share with you the few pictures of our visit. By the way, has anyone ever tried taking pictures at the zoo? How do you get the baby looking, the animal in the background, and the parent doing the holding all in the same shot? Impossible if you ask me. So although, you may not see the animals or Jack's eyes in these photos, trust me...we were at the zoo and that was Jack.

I would assume this is Jack pointing at a "lilla". Which was actually an orangutan.

The "lilla" that started it all!

We arrived to the elephants right at feeding time. This was my favorite.

I'm pretty sure Jack was screaming "baa baa" at this sheep the whole time he was brushing it.

Round and round he goes!

What a way to end the day...a little playgound fun!