Bird of Paradise from our back yard, a substitute for the Birds of Paradise at the Zoo.

This weekend we took girls to the zoo. The zoo had switched over to their summer hours, and while not ideal zoo weather, it was much nicer than it’s been or predicted to be in the coming weeks. I like to maximize our membership, and Nicole is never one to say no to a zoo morning.

The big surprise for us this trip was Alexis. For the first time she wasn’t all about the stroller buggy ride. She spent most of her time in my arms, leaning forward to get a better view. She waved to the chimpanzees and screamed “hi!” in her little toddler voice. In the amphibian house she pressed her face up on the glass to get as close to the lizards as possible. For the first time she saw the animals as animals, and not just objects that moved. The experience hearkened back to Nicole’s first time at the zoo, at roughly the same age.

We’ll be maximizing our zoo membership this year for sure!

It also means I won’t be bringing my camera to the zoo for some time, as I’m not likely to have a free hand to use it. Not when neither kid wants to sit in the stroller, and both require a set of eyeballs upon them. Thankfully I have a back yard full of flowers I haven’t killed yet, and a surprising amount of wildlife we haven’t scared off to scratch my photographer itch.

When the previous home owner told us she saw all kinds of animals from her backyard, we assumed she was just working the sale. We have so many deer out here that we have recognizable family units. I always recognize this guy from the dark strip above his eyes. I’m pretty sure he was born somewhere near our house, he was such a tiny thing when we first spotted him. I thought he was abandoned, it was a couple weeks after we started seeing him before Mama allowed herself to be seen.

I’m sure it’s more a indication of their patience than my tenacity that I’m able to get so many photos of them. Even the kids banging on the patio door doesn’t phase them much. Both kids have a fondness for the twin fawns that sometimes sleep in the shade of our rose bushes.

Posted in Family Life