A Leisurely Stroll

It was Spring Break last week and, odd as it may sound, our daycare was closed in addition to the local school systems. This creates a tricky childcare situation given that I'm still the only person working the front desk at the office. So, Thursday found me with the first day off in quite some time (unrelated to illness, of course). The kids and I decided it was a ZooDay. We finally decided to change out of our pj's around 11AM, I threw in a change of clothes in the car at the last minute and I double-checked I had my zoo pass. I didn't bring my camera (well, let's not be silly now, of course I had my smaller camera b/c it fit in my pocket), a bag for the kids, water or much at all besides my car keys, phone and some cash. The only thing missing was Daddy!


It was the best trip I've had to the zoo in quite some time. There was no rush, we quickly shed our jackets soon after arriving, the kids were in great moods and I didn't have a backpack, heavy camera, snacks and drinks to weigh me down. I put my keys in my pocket and enjoyed strolling through the zoo. For almost FOUR hours!

Brushing the goats.

Kendall's photography skills are improving!

The jeep is always a source of enjoyment (kids), boredom (parents) and bribery (if the parents find the need, they can bribe the kids with the lack of jeep play-time).

I don't document my children's lives very well when it comes to growth. I've seen some really neat ways people do this and I'm pretty jealous. However, this picture on the scorching hot, metal lion at the zoo can do it for me. I probably have a picture of each child from every single zoo trip we've ever taken.

Pretending to be an elephant.

It was an unforgettable day for me. We absolutely took our time and all along the way I realized, many times, that I don't take the time to enjoy my children enough. It's been a while since I've been able to just walk with them, talk with them and play with them for 4 straight hours with absolutely nothing else to do. And because we took our time, we saw more than we usually do. We saw an elephant eating mud, an itty-bitty, newborn piglet, a Gorilla's "bootie" (sorry, but it was a source of great humor for my kids that day), a very playful baby Chimp, we figured out how Giraffe's scratch their backs, and searched for, and found, Kali the Tiger (which naturally always sparks a Kali the Cousin conversation) who is normally playing a very skilled game of hide and seek. We stopped to smell the roses that day, for sure, and they smelled mighty good!