Going to the zoo

Caroline has been begging me to take her to the zoo for the last several months.  We have the little zoo at the science center where we go regularly.  But I haven't taken her to the real zoo in....a long time.  Long enough that she doesn't ever remember going.  She was dying to see a giraffe and a gorilla. (The circus fulfilled her yearnings to see elephants!)  We finally had a free day so just the two of us headed down to the real zoo.

She was SO excited and SO super cute.

She dressed in a monkey shirt,

leopard print skirt,

and paw print socks.

She was SO ready for our African Safari!

 She also asked me to do her hair like a lion's mane.

I wasn't sure how to pull that off, so I told her I could do it like a giraffe's horns.

 She was happy with that.

(Here she is showing her giraffe face.)

 We got to see lots of Mommy animals in action.

Mommy chimp having a pretty intense chat with her little one.

Baby giraffe making smoochy lips at mom.

Piggyback ride for baby gorilla.

(They had baby gorillas!!!  Loved it!!)

Poor gorilla mom.

Haven't we all had days like this?
I wish I could have told her, "It gets better! Hang in there!"

Baby turtle hitching a ride.

It was a warm, beautiful day and Caroline and I had a blast.

I'm starting to get sentimental about her starting kindergarten in the fall.

I love hanging out with her during the day.

I'll totally miss it.

Other sights from the day:

I call this one, "Elephant and Reflection." 

Caroline loved climbing on all the statues and saying,

"Take my picture!"

The only thing that is just as cute as baby gorillas???

 Baby chimpanzees!!

It was my lucky day.

Upside down baby chimpanzee.

 

 We took a couple of rides on the carousel.

Do you think she liked it?

 They had a great play area, too.

 C showed off her hula-hooping skills.

Had a blast at the mud cafe.

And made some GIANT bubbles.

She loved following the sea lion as he swam by the window.

Zebras fascinate me.

And riding the tram is always a highlight, too.

I had such a great time that I'm already itching to go back.  And maybe take the rest of the family. Or maybe just me and my preschooler again. (I can only say that for another week!)