Trip to the Zoo

Last year, when Maddie was just a few weeks old, we took the kids to the zoo, but that was their only visit before today. I've been wanting to take Eli for a while due to his recent increased interest in animals, but the heat has kept us away. (That's not to say I didn't want to take Maddux too; she's just a little young to 'get it' yet.) So after a moody 10-15 minute start on the day by Eli, the kids and I were on the road. We picked a great day as far as temperatures and crowds go. The zoo was not at all busy and it was maybe 85 degrees in the sun.

Eli remembered his visit from last year and talked about the 'mingos' (flamingos) the entire drive downtown. As we drove downtown, we passed Turner Field and Eli got super excited and started naming everything he saw: coke bottles, baseball field, lights, etc. Once inside the zoo, he ran right over to the mingos and started talking to them. Maddie even got a little excited about them. We also saw giraffes, zebras, gorillas, turtles, lots of birds, pandas, orangutans, and elephants. Eli really liked the elephants because they were 'dirty' (covered in clay from rolling on the ground). We overheard one of the zoo volunteers telling a class that our two elephants are both female and one is expecting a baby this spring. Eli got very excited about that and said, "We come back after Easter and see the baby." I do wonder if he understands it will be a baby elephant and not a baby 'baby'.....

I knew Eli was having a good time because of the sheer magnitude of questions he asked me about the animals. That and the excited voice he used when he pointed out new animals to me. I wasn't sure if Mad Dog would take any of the sights in, but she did. Every time I parked in front of an exhibit, her eyes tracked any obvious animals and she got a very intense look on her face.

The highlight of the day was midway through when we stopped at the petting zoo. Eli was very excited to pet the sheep, pigs, and goats. He was very gentle, and he got all kinds of excited when he found a bucket of animal brushes to brush their 'hair'. Maddie likes animals (her experience is mostly with dogs), but sometimes touching them causes her some hesitation. She did pet three or four farm animals while I held her today.

Speaking of Maddux, she hung out in the BOB most of the day, but I let her out a few times to run around. One of those times was at the playground. She had a blast riding on the bouncy duck and driving the bus with Eli. She zonked out the last ten minutes of the car ride home.