Saturday, April 13, 2013

Zoo Beginnings

 Elise is 3 now. A magical age. A fun age. An age full of adventures and surprises so last weekend I surprised her with a trip to the zoo followed up by a picnic in the park. It was a little chillier than I'd hoped but it ended up being an amazing day!

Look Mommy! Penguins!
 We were probably the first people the animals saw that day since we got there when the Zoo opened to beat the rush. It was a little like having our own private day with just a couple other families.

Ooooooooh! BIG kitty.
 The other tiger came over to the glass quite a few times but I missed out on the Kodak moments being in awe of it's sheer size and muscle.

Why so blue Mr. Meerkat? You look like you could use a friend.
The best part of our zoo trip (aside from the Dolphin show, seriously if you haven't been to the show you should make the trip) was this little encounter Elise had with one of the meerkats.

I'll give you a kiss. That always makes me feel better.
 I was just snapping away, letting her do her thing. Our little Miss Tenderheart is so sweet with animals. She was "talking" to the meerkat for a couple minutes in a quiet little voice. It sounded like she was asking him what his favorite color was and other very important toddler questions.

Thanks little girl! That cheered me right up!
 We've been watching a lot of The Lion King lately. It's her latest movie craze, last month was Little Mermaid and Lilo and Stitch before that. It's kind of what inspired me to do a zoo visit again.

"High five me!"
 When he came over to the glass after she said "High five me!" and put his paw up I almost fell over.

That smile!
He just hung out there with his paw right on her hand.

B.F.F's
We are so lucky to have such a happy little girl! Before she took her hand off the glass she looked at me and said, "Mommy, he's my best friend." Now granted she says that about seemingly everyone right now but in this moment I think she really meant it.

No longer scared of the slide!
 She wanted to play on the little playground, not unusual for a kid, but she has been scared of slides and climbing things for a long time so I get a little fluttery with happiness each time she tries something new.

"I like Pamigones. They're my favorite bird."
 Her (current) favorite color is pink so I knew she'd get a kick out of the flamingos. I got a kick out of hearing her try to say "flamingos".

She wanted to try this bouncing thing. Brave!
 Back to the park for some bouncing. She waited patiently for her turn and even said thank you to the boy after he was done. Manners are really pretty easy to teach kids if you make it a part of their daily life. That's something Mike and I are both firm on, please and thank you!

Picnic at the park
 We hadn't been back to Holliday Park since we moved out of that area and it was the perfect day to revisit it. She's all about having picnics at home with her play food so I thought she'd enjoy a real one.

Strike a pose!
Of course we had to hike down to the river to throw some rocks in and I snapped this little gem. She's such a "big girl" now. She'll always be our baby but she's certainly not a baby anymore!

Someday soon she'll be too big for this.
No trip to the park is complete without some swinging. Thanks, Cuppy, for getting this shot for me and joining us at the park!