Day at the Zoo

Today began like many other days in the Payne house. Quiet shrieks of joy coming from the boys bedroom, followed by groaning and rolling over of both Sam and Mollie, and finally, “Daddy, Mommy, wake up!” as Harrison bursts into our room at 6:15 am. But today was not just any day. Today was Saturday. A blessed day in the Payne home. A day where Daddy stays home, and we try and have “Family Fun Day.” Today, without any other conflicts on our schedule, we would actually have a Family Fun Day. We decided our fun for today would take place at the zoo. This is one of Harrison’s favorite places in the world. He has always been amazed by the animals, and asks to go to the zoo whenever the thought arises. Today when I asked him what animals we would see there today, he said, “The huge elephants, and the flamingos and the monkeys.” On the way to the zoo, after passing a series of billboards that included 2 zoo advertisements with monkeys on them, an one for Disneyland, Harrison exclaimed, “Mommy, I saw a monkey and another monkey and another and another. They are at the zoo. But Mickey Mouse is not at the Zoo.” We had a very nice time at the zoo. We did not get to see the huge elephants today, but we did get to see flamingos, monkeys, okapis, hippos and tapirs to name a few. We didn’t make it to the elephants today, but I am sure we will see them again soon. The polar bears were my favorite today - they had a special treat this week - some fresh snow made for them. They were both laying in the warm California sun, peacefully resting on the only two patches of snow that were left. You could tell they felt at home. This was Noah’s 2nd trip to the zoo. He just took it all in - the people, the animals, and mostly Harrison’s jabberings. We topped off the day with a ride on the “Skyfari” (a gondola) which Harrison was anxious to get off of, but just as anxious to get back onto. As we left the gates, he was pleading, “More at the zoo, more at the zoo!” But the tired shrieks of Noah let us know it was definitely time to head home. It’s a good thing we have annual passes.

Mollie