Jack goes to the zoo!

What, I think my animal shirt for the zoo makes me look tough!

Oh! Seals!

"Come to me, oh creatures of the sea!"

At the front gate

For the zoo--much better than a stroller!

On July 30, Jack made his first trip to the Brookfield Zoo with Mommy and Auntie Michele. Ordinarily, I have mixed reviews of zoos. On the one hand, I love to see the animals. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure the animals would prefer the whole continent of Africa to their itty bitty pens in captivity. But when Michele asked me to go awhile back, I was excited but also curious about how Jack would react to everything. Would he enjoy it? Would he sleep through it all? Would it be more like two adults just going to the zoo?

We got there around 9:45, just after the zoo had opened and got Jack's stroller loaded with the MILLIONS of things this kid needs to travel. Seriously, he needs more stuff for a day activity than I need for a week vacation! And he's not even a girl! The first animal we saw was a leopard. Jack didn't see it because it was lazy and barely moved. I kept snapping my fingers in the direction of the big cat so that Jack would look at my fingers and then the cat, but it was for naught. I thought, uh oh, is this how it's going to be the whole time, me trying to get him to pay attention to things he doesn't need? However we then went into an exhibit where we saw meerkats. Those little guys are a bit more active and Jack immediately saw them scampering around. As he usually does when discovering something new, he got quiet and his eyes got big as he watched the little meerkats skitter about. After the meerkats, we found our way to the lion den. Fortunately, he couldn't miss the gigantic cats from the start. He watched them and then looked away, just as the female lion did something to really irritate the male and he went after her and growled. Jack jumped about a mile! He didn't want to be in his stroller much because he couldn't see anything and I didn't want him to be in there either since I couldn't see him react. However, carrying a 20 pound kid in your arms for four hours was NOT an option. I put him in the Baby Bjorn for the first time (unless you count the time I was cleaning the house, found the Baby Bjorn and tried it on just to see how it would be). We both felt more free after that.

We then traveled to the seals' underwater enclosure, which proved to be the best part of the trip. Jack's reaction to the seals was worth the price of admission alone! He first noticed the big blue windows with the water and was in awe. But that was nothing compared to when the seals started swimming by! Huge eyes, squeals, kicking of legs and punching of arms in the air. He then would put his arms out to the sides as if trying to say, "Come to me, my friends from the deep!" It was hysterical to watch and so exciting to see Jack so excited!

After a quick lunch, Jack unfortunately fell asleep and missed the pachyderms and some rather boring goat like things I had never heard of. He woke up to the giraffes. He definitely saw them but I think he was still a little groggy and didn't fully appreciate them. We saw the majority of the zoo and had a wonderful time. I am excited to visit again when he is a little older and can appreciate it even more. I also think that a visit to the Shedd Aquarium is also in order after his reaction to sea creatures! I think he might want to be a marine biologist! On the way out, I got him a little stuffed seal to remind him of his first trip to the zoo and the friends he made there!