Spiderman at the zoo

When we go the email that the Houston Zoo was having a special visit from Spiderman and Captain America, James and I knew we wanted to take the kids. Connor and Megan had recently discovered an old-school Spiderman cartoon on Netflix and all the kids have an interest in superheroes right now, thanks to the recent Marvel movies.

Knowing the zoo would likely be crowded, we tried to get in early. With a later-than-wanted start, we managed to get there right as the zoo opened and we still had to park in the back parking lot. Even with a beeline to the meeting place, we had an almost 30 minute wait to see the masked duo and we were the lucky ones. By the time we had our picture done and left the building, the line was twice as long and on our way out of the zoo it had doubled once again.

The moment Connor caught sight of Spiderman, he demanded my attention and pointed him out. He then stared at the spot, waiting for the people to move so he could catch yet another glimpse.

Once we were at the front, he got a little shy. Spiderman was great, crouching down and interacting with him. Connor still wasn't sure what to make of them, though he couldn't stop watching.

The girls were equally excited to meet them, giggling and giving them high fives. By the time we took the picture, Connor had lost interest and was walking away, so I had to jump in. Of course, once we stood next to Spiderman, he couldn't stop grinning at his new hero.

Once the visit was over, we wandered to some of Cadence's favorite exhibits and the girls got to show James everything.

And, as always, a sidenote: Today was Connor's first day of nursery. It would have been last week, but that was Stake Conference, so this week James dropped him off (learning from past mistakes). I hovered in the hallway hoping for an immediate update and kept peeking through the windows before I finally had to go to where my class waited for me. James did peek in and assured me all had gone well, spurring exclamations from my small group of teens over his beardless face. I did my best to not rush to pick him up afterward. It wasn't that I missed him, it was actually nice to listen to the Relief Society lesson and not have him attempt to dive off the folding chairs for fun. Mostly, I wanted to hear how he had done from his new teachers. As it always goes, they were all smiles and raved about how sweet and quiet he was (that made me smother a laugh).

And, of course, the nursery leaders did mention how much they loved his little grin. Look at all the attitude conveyed in that smile. ;-)