Field Trip Day at the Zoo

Yesterday we enjoyed a day at the zoo.

Everyone had been looking forward to this trp for awhile, but for Colsen, especially, it was a big thrill since the last time we went to a zoo he was less than a year old. I'm not sure what he expected to see here, but I do know he had some apprehension. For the last few months, he's had some sort of crazy fear about monkeys. He thinks monkeys are going to eat him, come get him at night, etc... I think this idea is courtesy of Strider. Anyway, we've reassured him over and over that monkeys are just fun creatures, there are no monkeys near our house, and certainly none are going to eat him. But he has persisted in his beliefs. So we've had a LOT of conversations about what the monkeys at the zoo were going to be like.

Thankfully, all the kids were just plain thrilled with all the animals, Colsen included. In fact, as we were walking to the monkey exhibit, I asked him if he was scared. He answered, "No, I'm not scared. Monkeys aren't going to eat me. I'm happy now." So that was good.

On the way home I asked everyone what they're favorite parts were. Colsen said he loved the gorillas. We all enjoyed watching them catch and eat their food -- all kinds of fruits and vegetables were thrown and the 3 gorillas were very active going to get it all. Rayna said she loved the penguins best, and Strider enjoyed the Bird Show. In fact, this was a big highlight because Strider was chosen out of the crowd to be a "volunteer" and he held some hula hoops for a dive-bombing hawk to fly through. He said it felt like the big bird flew right under his armpit!

We also took the tram up to the botanical gardens, which were beautiful as usual. I wish we could have spent more time there!

My favorite quotes of the day were:

• when Rayna later said that she wished she could go back and hug the gorillas (they do look very huggable!)
• when we walked by a very tall woman and Strider said "She's like Yao Ming's mom!" She was probably about 6'5" (as he estimated), but she also caucasian and blond.
• and when Strider said, "You know when we're in Heaven, gem mining is going to be easy. All we'll have to do is chip up a piece of the street!" (This had nothing to do with the zoo, but he said it today in the car on the way down) :)