To Zoo or Not to Zoo

For spring break this week I had Bean and Bugg on Monday and Friday. Ol' Mother Hubbard could only come on Monday, so we did candymaking that day. There's a new dinosaur exhibit at our zoo and since that is one of Bean's loves, I wanted to take him, but the weather, hmmm. At the beginning of the week it looked like Wednesday would be the best day and Friday was supposed to be high 50's and maybe some rain. I thought, well, high 50's, we'll take umbrellas and press on. The forecast changed every day until finally it would be cold and in the low 40's at noon. Dear me.

A friend went on the Wednesday and said it was the most packed she'd ever seen it. It was difficult to see anything or move around much. I deplore those conditions, and since the weather for Saturday was supposed to be delicious again, I hoped folks would opt to wait until Saturday. I told the mamas to dress the poopies in layers and off Uncle Jimi and I went with Bean, Bugg and Miss Raina in tow.

It was quite cool for the first couple of hours, but in our layers and in the sun we were comfy. Until dark, the sky remained a brilliant blue that warms the spirit regardless of the temperature. Nary a cloud appeared on the seen the live long day.

For the only time in my many, many trips to the zoo, we parked on the first row right near the entrance( I was really happy about that five hours later). No crowds. It turned out to be a most perfect day.

Whoa, he is way on up there!

We saw a lot of adorable animals, but these pictures are of my favorite monkeys. From here Miss Bugg required a potty break. On the way I nearly took a wrong turn and she got a peek at the meerkats. She inquired, "Are we going to see anymore of all the precious animals?" I assured her we'd see all that were to be seen.

I have always loved gorillas and I was so excited to see this little baby girl. At first Mama kept her back to us, then swooped right down to show her off. Here the baby's foot had just slipped through Mama's hand. Thanks mom, she's a beauty.

The dinosaurs were big and interesting, but didn't hold the interest of the live animals for my crew.

I took this picture of Bugg gazing out at the flamingos, because for a couple of years we had to steer clear of this area. She was terrified of them for some reason, and if you asked her about going to the zoo she'd simply reply, "No, no mingos."

Miss Raina loves the eagles because she's happy there's a place for them to live out their lives after being shot. Bean didn't know that story and asked how they keep them without the eagles soaring away. I read to him about their injuries. In a dispairing voice he said, "That is so sad." "I think I'm going to cry." It is sad. Why in the world would you want to shoot an eagle?

Many hours later and everyone is still smiling-good times. I was sure thankful to the Lord for such an extraordinary day.