At the zoo (again)

With James's temporary night shift, it's best for everyone if I get the kids out of the house in the morning so he can sleep and they don't have to be unnaturally quiet.

Today, we went to the zoo, hoping to beat the rain (which showed up an hour early, darn it!). It was otherwise perfect weather, though. High 50's, overcast, and no real wind chill. With the looming storm, the zoo was practically empty compared to what we're used to, allowing me to relax a little and let the kids explore with a bit more freedom.

I originally planned to let the girls feed the giraffes again, but when I realized I did not have my camera, I decided against it. I want Connor's first up-close-and-personal to be caught on film. Besides, it started raining at 11, when the feeding was scheduled to start.

We had lots of unique moments thought:

We went to see the lions first, on our way to the giraffes. The lionesses were not in their usual nap spots, but closer to the viewing platform, chewing on the bones from their breakfast, allowing us a great view of them. I pointed them out to Connor and when I said "see the cat?" he became rather alert and sat upright in his stroller to try and see what I was pointing at. Once he saw them, he excitedly began saying "Ta! Ta!" and even waved at them. Too sweet.

The zoo has a spot in the children's park where you can climb through a tunnel and poke your head out in the middle of the prairie dog exhibit. The girls and I took Connor into one and happened to see a prairie dog hanging out, digging inches away from our faces. It was pretty cool and once again, Connor was super excited and kept banging on the plastic.

At the chimp exhibit, one of the chimps sat beside the large window in the viewing house and was responding to the people he saw. One kid clapped his hands and the chimp mimicked him. Cue several minutes of kids clapping and laughing as the chimp clapped his hands and then clapped his foot and his hand and made goofy faces. Of course, he abruptly got fed up with the attention and attempted to roundhouse kick one of the little girls. He only kicked the window, of course, but it certainly scared her.

Once past the chimp place, we wandered toward the elephants (with a visit to the African drums the little play village first). I had received an email from the zoo and learned one of the elephants is pregnant and due any day now! We happened upon a moment when they allowed the pregnant elephant's 3-year-old to spend some time with his older brother, where he will spend most of his time once the new baby is here. Initially, I thought they were fighting over territory, since that male elephant has always been alone, but the zookeeper set us straight and we watched the two brothers wrestle and play. Then the zookeeper pointed out the pregnant elephant. I'm excited to take the girls back when the baby is here. We were told that, barring any health issues, mama and calf will rejoin the herd within days of birth, so when the time comes, we'll get to see a newborn baby elephant!

Of course, when pointing to the pregnant elephant and telling them there was a baby elephant in her belly, just like I'd had a baby in my belly, the girls assumed all the elephants were pregnant because their bellies were so big.

Oh well. Maybe next time we go to the zoo we'll have pictures of the baby elephant and pictures of Connor feeding the giraffes to share all at once. ;-)