Aug 31 2008
The Zoo
Went to the zoo yesterday! I always love going when my husband can go, too. I can’t take the stroller into a lot of the exhibits - like the monkey house - so it gets to be a pain. It was very fun. The best part was Henry seeing the giraffes up close. He just kept calling to them - “Raff! Raff!” and one of them seemed to actually stop and acknowledge him. Looked right at him, bowed a little bit, even. It was cool.
We went to this cool section they added a couple years ago called the Hamill Family Play Zoo. Inside is a bunch of stuff that the kids can interact with. They’ve got a mock veterinary clinic where the kids can “treat” pretend animals. A section for plants and growing things. Small animals that the kids can pet & learn about. A big craft area. All sorts of stuff. Maggie & Steven love to do the face painting. They have the face paint crayons & they can turn into animals. Steven became an “alien” from the planet “Xalax”:
Isn’t that great? Maggie’s usually some type of large cat. I got a great picture outside:
Before we left, we rode the carousel. Well, Maggie & Steven did. While they were waiting in line, I noticed a dad with a beautiful little girl who has Down Syndrome. She had fine blonde hair and the brightest blue eyes with that diamond sparkle that I’ve seen on a lot of kids with Down Syndrome. She & her daddy chose a giraffe to ride on. Every time they came around, I couldn’t help but smile like a big goon. She went between happy & smiling and being afraid and and grabbing her daddy’s neck. Her dad looked at me a couple times and he must have thought I was insane or something. But it was beautiful.
As we were leaving, a bunch of couples were coming in for a wedding. They recently built a big pavilion and now they rent the zoo out for parties and weddings. It was quite incongruous to see women in gorgeous dresses & sequins/beads with high heels and men in suits mingling outside the Bear Grotto. I bet it was a beautiful wedding, though. I wonder if they get to mingle around and visit the animals during the reception? If the peacocks roam around during the ceremony. How cool would it be to hear the lions roar or the elephants trumpet during the ceremony? Right?
That is one great costume!