Freezing Family Day

We had the same idea that many other L.A. residents had today...to wish the lions, tigers and bears a happy new year. At least it seemed that half the city was at the gate this morning as we waited about twenty minutes to buy a ticket and get in. We also thought, like the rest of the crazy people there without winter coats and hats on, that the fog would burn off and the day would warm up. Alas, it didn't and it was freaking cold all day. I know, I whine. It was really not that bad.

But, my Michigan-hearty blood has all but thinned now and I can't tolerate even the slightest of breezes. So, the fifties temps we suffered today froze my little self to the bone with only a sweater and a ridiculously warm North Face fleece. Seriously, there were kids running around in shorts and flip flops. They were insane, of course. For the most part, people were doing the jiggly dance in front of the exhibits and blowing into their fists to keep warm.

Anyway, the day rocked. Collin is so in love with animals these days that he was in awe of the whole experience. And, Bryon and I are in awe of him. Did you guys know that he's always listening to us? He was naming all kind of animals that we had to rack our brains to figure out when and where he learned them...like, oh yeah, there's a yak in one of his Curious George books, so OF COURSE he'd see a yak and immediately leap from his stroller and shout YAK! YAK! YAK! I'm a little concerned for what else he may know...we do read him some questionable literature. Kidding.

He wasn't always correct in his naming of animals, of course. For example, if an animal has four legs and no horns, it's either a horse, a goat or a pony. But hey, he's trying. And, he calls pretty much any animal with horns, a yak, as we discovered after the yak (which by the way was actually an elan but who the heck knows what an elan is anyway?).

And, we couldn't keep him away from monkeys of any kind. Monkey, monkey, monkey! All day long, that's all the kid would talk about. It's a good thing there's about ten zillion types of monkey and the L.A. Zoo's got them all.

Yep, Mom I could look at this here monkey ALL DAY!


Wait! Why would you pull me away from the monkey! Why? Why? WHY?

Oh, it's for lunch? Okay, I've calmed myself. Bring on the corn dog. Mommy and Daddy let Collin have juice with lunch. It's the second time in his entire life he's had a juice box, or juice of any kind for that matter. Let's just say that he liked it. One swallow, people. One swallow.

For mommy and daddy though the highlights of the zoo day were trying to explain to Collin what the male lion and female lion were doing exactly when he mounted her. Yep. Saw that. It was even more fun explaining what an "I have a headache" roar sounds like. Tee hee! Yep. Saw that too. She just roared him right off her mid-hump. He peed on her. Sorry folks, no photos of that. Believe it or not, the exhibit was shockingly crowded for this moment of glory.

Then, we saw the giant lizards going at it too. Oh yeah, and one of the orangutans that was clearly still nursing one of her young decided that since she can, yes, reach her own nipple, she might take a bit of a sip herself. It was weird. I mean, you don't really know strange until you see something with a hand that looks too much like your own reach down, pinch and put that into her own mouth. Ech! It gives you a bit of a shiver, doesn't it? So, all in all an interesting day at the zoo, filled with wonders of all kinds.

I've always said that the best day to go to the zoo to see the animals active and milling about is when it's cold or rainy...I didn't realize that they'd be quite this active today however. In fact, you can see a hippo poop any day, rain or shine...as Collin just discovered. Daddy pointed out the poop floating in the water which caused Collin to shout "POOP! POOP! POOP!" endlessly at this exhibit and any other with water. Man, he listens to EVERYTHING, doesn't he?

Needless to say, someone was pooped after his adventure to the zoo. Seeing so many "amals" will do that to a kid, especially the "epapant." So, Collin and his new monkey pal, which he's named "red," the color he thinks everything is, took a nap.
We blow you all a big kiss from the giraffes! See you later gators! After a while crocodiles! Yep, I'm lame. But, I'm pretty sure you knew that already.