to the zoo

Ainsleigh and I met a friend and her two little boys at the zoo Tuesday. We had such a good time. Ainsleigh immediately hit it off with her 5 year old and they set off ahead of us holding hands and telling each other how they weren't afraid of elephants. It was so sweet to hear them talking to each other so politely. He was Ainsleigh's best friend right away, or so she said. It helps that he has the same name as her cousin! He was so sweet and kind to her. He would pat her shoulder when they walked. They totally acted like siblings. We spent almost four hours there. FOUR HOURS! I think that's the longest trip I've ever taken to the zoo. But the weather was really nice for it and everything was green, not too stinky yet, and not hot enough for all the gnats to be gathering around the animals and their food.


I couldn't believe how brave Ainsleigh was. She fed the koi fish and ducks in the pond and then headed right over to the goats and wasn't afraid to feed them either, although I was a little nervous about it. She started with the little baby goats and then moved up to the larger ones. Good thing she didn't go by my example, because there was no way I was letting them stick their slimy tongues all over my hand. Sorry, but I'm going to plead nausea on that one.


I know they look less than thrilled here, but Ainsleigh was sort of sitting on his lap taking over the steering. The rest of the day they were really happy though. There were conversations about a kitty cat named Milo and some "gubbies" in a fish tank that are named sheddy, betty, and eddie. They both yelled "see ya later" to all the animals when we rode the train through the park at the end of the day. We actually saw quite a few animals - black bears, lions, bobcats, giraffes, parrots, wallabies, emus, bison, elk, bengal tigers, porcupines, and bald eagles but of course feeding the ducks and koi fish was Ainsleigh's favorite and most memorable part. So much for the exotic. I guess its to be expected from a girl who eats rice and pasta with nothing on it.

So here's her wingspan today. She's almost four. I'm kind of enjoying my 3 foot tall girl.