A Roaring Good Time at the Zoo

Posing on a Tree Frog
Originally uploaded by the golbys.

So, just before we left California, Nan and Grandpa treated us to a day at the Oakland Zoo. This was very exciting for us. We've been to the Honolulu Zoo, of course, but this zoo is larger and nicer, and our adult to child ratio was 3:1 (a treat for Mama if there ever was one)!

Kathleen was delighted by the zoo from the moment we walked in. She immediately spied the flamingos and their watery habitat and didn't stop talking about "birds" and "water" for a good five minutes. She happily trotted all over the zoo, watching the children and the animals with equal interest. She seemed particularly impressed by the chimpanzees and gorillas climbing and swinging all over, the alligator chilling on the bottom of his tank, the lizards and little yellow tree frogs, and the turtles, both in the water and on land. She was also quite taken the with fruit bats (there was a horde of them), which Mama frankly found very, very creepy.

Checking out the Giraffes
Originally uploaded by the golbys.

The zoo also has a train, which we didn't ride but Kathleen loved nonetheless. The train must have passed us every three or four minutes, and each and every time Kathleen would stop whatever she was doing to yell, "Toot-toot!" and make the sign for train. She found the train no less exhilarating the thirtieth time it passed than she did the first. (The same could not be said of the rest of Kathleen's entourage.)

The day of fun and sun and animals gave Kathleen an enormous appetite (she wolfed down 3/4 of a grilled cheese sandwich) and fantastic afternoon nap. Thanks for another great adventure, Nan and Grandpa!