August 25

We're still celebrating Chris' return, so we decided to skip church today and pay a family visit to the zoo instead. We planned ahead and got up early so that we could make the most of the zoo's free hour, and beat the heat and crowds.

(Brace yourself for an onslaught of photos.)

Caleb and Daisy really like this elephant fountain, so I try to take a picture of them in front of it every time we visit. Since it was Lily's first visit to the zoo, she had to be in the picture too. I briefly contemplated taking her out of the wrap and letting Caleb hold her for the picture, but then I regained my sanity and sat down on the stone ledge with her in the wrap.

First stop: Carousel.

As usual, Daisy rode an animal and Caleb chose to sit on his trusty, immobile bench.

And Lily snoozed through the whole thing.

You'd think riding on a bench would be  boring, but Caleb was pretty excited.

Then on to the stingray exhibit. We got as far as the "wash your hands up to the elbows" part when Caleb froze. I'm not sure if it was the hand-washing, or the fact that the recorded announcement mentioned that there were sharks in the water, too, but he refused to participate. Chris and Daisy went in to pet the stingrays, while Caleb, Lily and I waited outside. Thus, no photos. Caleb said, "Maybe when I'm five..."

Last stop for the free hour: the Children's Zoo.

And our first stop in the Children's Zoo was the goat-petting area. 

Can you tell that Daisy was excited?

Caleb felt safest brushing the parts farthest away from the goats' faces.

This girl is fearless, and loves animals!

Caleb declared that this goat was his "best friend", and named it "Goaty the Goat who Loves All Goats". But then he gave the next goat the same name. Apparently goats are very loving creatures.

Then Caleb wanted to take a picture with my camera. He got this: 

Seriously, this picture is straight-out-of-camera. I didn't have to crop or re-center or anything. Caleb is getting pretty good!

I love that Lily is in the picture, and that the goat is smiling.

Daisy really liked the goat, too. This is her giving it a hug.

While Chris and the kids played at the indoor part of the Children's Zoo, I fed Lily and watched birds. She was in such a good mood that I decided to try putting her in the BOB for the first time. She was pretty happy for about 7 minutes!

But a snuggle with Daddy brought out her smiles!

(Doesn't this melt your heart? Her smiles are coming more frequently now, and she chuckles and coos sometimes, too! I love it!)

We left the Children's Zoo and headed for the elephants, but Caleb asked, "Does the Zoo have a butterfly house? Can we see the butterfly house and climb on the big beetle?" Chris had no idea what Caleb was talking about, but I knew. 

Man, that beetle is a popular photo op! We had to wait our turn for a picture, and had crowds behind us waiting for their turn.

Meanwhile, Lily was a trooper! Aside from the break to feed her, ride in the BOB, and snuggle with Daddy, she slept in her wrap almost the whole time!

Finally, the elephants. We  even got to see Priya, the new baby elephant! I was content to leave after that, but Chris suggested that we visit the new sea lion exhibit. I hadn't been through it, so we headed that direction.

The underwater viewing tunnel was well worth the detour! I kept wondering if the sea lions had ever accidentally smashed into the tunnel when they were first introduced to the habitat? Probably not...

The kids could have stayed there for an hour!

(Also, I love the way Daisy's hair glows when sunlight shines through it!)

We said hello to the monkeys as we made our way to the exit, but it turned out that we probably should have left the zoo right after the elephants. Lily started crying, then Daisy kicked Caleb in the face, and everyone began melting. Luckily, we made it to our picnic spot, where we feasted on fruit and leftovers from last night's "Daddy is Home!" celebration dinner.

Mmm... cold pizza! 

(Did you know that Pi has gluten free pizza? It's delicious!)

Lily finally stopped screaming once I removed her from the wrap. I guess she was just a little bit warm, as was I. We left the zoo around 11:00, so it was only in the mid-80s, but my shirt was pretty sweaty when I finally removed Lily.

What a special morning!

Then we headed home, put the kids down for naps, and climbed into bed for our own naps. It was beautiful. Sadly, it's back to real life tomorrow. But at least it's real life with Chris home, and not in Wisconsin!