A Day at the Zoo

The above picture is totally unrelated to this post, but I have no related pictures, and this one shows off Jackson's cute lips, so I'm going with it.

This week we have been blessed with BEAUTIFUL weather. A rare occurrence in May, so we tried our best to take advantage of it. Thursday, Jack and I spent the day at the zoo. I mean, we really spent a LONG time there, we got there at 10am and didn't leave until 3:30pm. It was awesome. I did NOT take my camera. That was the best part, we really got to enjoy the day. This time, we did it on Jack's terms. It meant a little bit of extra walking as Jack directed which animals to see next, but I loved every second of it. I'll share the highlights:

• Jack got to pet the sting ray. Not the first time, but always a favorite activity.


• Jack fed a giraffe. This was his first time and he loved it.


• We had a nice little lunch together at the cafe. He kept asking for his dad to come join us. (It was a shame he couldn't take time off during this gorgeous weather.)


• We saw an elephant, tiger, lions, and warthogs.


• We stood and watched a peacock resting in the shade for a very long time. When Jack walked away to get a drink of water, the peacock came right up to him. Right up to him...like within 12 inches from him...and just stood and watched Jack. Jack was thrilled!


• Jack loved the kamodo dragon and the birds, especially standing inside the giant bird cage. He really liked that.


• We watched the turtles for an hour. Not the big tortoises but the little ones in the pond. The funniest part was that he went up to each new person who approached and explained everything to them as if he worked at the zoo. He pointed out the biggest one and explained how the little ones sometimes rode on it's back. He said the biggest one was the daddy because he was big like his daddy. He pointed out which ones had "green moss" on their backs. He explained he was going to get a turtle for our house and it was going to live on his daddy's nightstand. (We haven't discussed that with Stuart yet.) He took the kids by the hand and led them up to the water's edge. It was ADORABLE. It was hard to drag him away and when we passed it a second time, it was another long stay as he educated new people on the turtles.


• Jack had a blast brushing the goats.


• He loved petting the live cows and had even more fun milking the fake one. Maybe I overlooked it, but I never noticed you could practice milking the cow statue outside of the petting zoo. It was hysterical, but I am secretly glad no one was around when he first saw it, as our conversation could have been embarrassing. He milked the cow (it sprayed water) and told me the cow had a "milk penis." I quickly explained that it wasn't the cow's penis, but the udder. He thought for a second and then asked, "it's not a penis?" I said no. He then asked, "are those it's gynas?" (I hope I don't have to explain what Jack means by gyna...because I'm not going to.) Anyway, after some discussion, he finally understood it was an udder that you milked...just in time for the addition of other children, which he then shared his knowledge of how to milk the udder to. Sheesh!


• We played for a long time at the little water park. What a difference a year makes. Last year, this feature stressed me out because it consists of caves so you can't see your kid most of the time and that is scary when you have a fearless kid. This year, he is older, and it wasn't at all crowded, so it was great!


• We finished the day with a snow cone.

On the drive home, I took the route through the I-10 that allows us to drive through the long tunnel...Jack's favorite. He loves to put his hands in the air and scream as we go through it. He fell asleep half way through...eyes closed and hands still in the air. He woke up 20 minutes later when we got out of the car at home and the first thing he said was he needed his dad. It was a great day.