Ahhhh – spring has sprung. Or at least it is springing. And after our long winter hibernation, we decided to go out and see what was happening at the zoo!
It’s been several months since we took Mike to the zoo. It just didn’t seem right to take him over the winter. After all – it was one of the coldest winters on record with now than we’ve had in recent memory. Needles to say – Mike is significantly more aware of (and interactive with) his environment. So we were excited to see what his new reactions would be to all of the animals!
He wasn’t much on the black bears. And he only had a passing interest in the elephants. He started to get a little excited at the zebras. And he was still interested in the meerkats.
"Look at that meerkat!”
Then we moved on to the Giraffes. I’m not sure who was more interested! Mike LOVED the Giraffes – but there was one Giraffe that was just as interested in Mike. It cam right up to the edge of the fence – peeked over and said “hi”! It hung out with us for a little while – but then it was time for dinner (you really should see a Giraffe trot at least once in your life…)
“Howdy Mike!”
“Whoa! Look at that!”
After the Giraffe – it was “game on.” Mike started paying attention to all of the animals. Especially those that are in the books he “reads”. Things like lions, tigers, birds, snakes, monkeys. You could see that he was really making the connection between the animals in his books and the animals he was seeing at the zoo. It really was a fantastic moment.
And speaking of the monkey’s – we’ve been keeping track of the “newborn” chimp at our zoo. He’s about a year older than Mike and the first time we saw George. The first time we saw him, he was nursing with his mommy “Daisy”. It was pretty cool because it was during the time that Mike was still nursing. During our most recent trip – there was apparently a “family disagreement”! One of the “teen” chimps was jumping around and causing a ruckus. Eventually he started running around and he chased George around. Daisy came in a scooped George up and ran outside with him. The other chimp ran outside too but there was a surprise waiting for him. The other chimps did not like the fact that he was scaring baby George! They chased him all around the entire compound until eventually he settled down. In the end, everybody was happy (even if some of the older chimps were a little out of breath!).
Daisy with baby George
George with blanket!
Mike telling the chimps “ACK! No no!”
By the time we got the the red panda, Mike was getting a little tired of being in the stroller. It’s the perfect place to let him out to wander around. It’s a relatively small area and he can’t open the doors to get out of the area. Apparently, door that are good for keeping red panda’s in are also good for keeping little boys in too!
The cute little red panda
Mike in the red panda cage!
Mike strikes a pose while he’s in the red panda cage!
On this trip, we decided that Mike was big enough to go to the petting zoo. He got to pet goats and sheep. One of the workers put some “Mardi Gras” beads on one of the goats. She immediately fell in love with her new “bling”. The worker had to chase her around the pen for about 20 minutes to get the beads back! It was a riot and Mike loved watching them all run around. They also had a nice play area. He got to play in some “animal houses” – which were eggs, nests, and even a tree stump! He had an absolute BLAST playing in them. In fact, he had so much fun that “The Mom” decided to join in!
Goats love bling!
“Mike – meet Goat. Goat – meet Mike…”
Mike LOVED petting the goats!
“Stumps are FUN!”
“And so are nests!”
“Come on in mommy! It’s a blast!”
“Wow! Eggs are fun too!!!!”
It was a wonderful day. One of the many wonderful days that we get to share! The only unfortunate part? Mommy and Daddy had to wait until they got back home before they could do this…
Mike fell asleep on the way back to the car. It was a big day for a little boy!
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