the zoo

William and Mommy spent a lovely fall day at the zoo. The experience was once again different than the last time. This time, William was allowed out of his stroller so he could wander. There were so few people at the zoo today, it was almost as if we had the place to ourselves.

William got to meet the goats and pigs close up, but he was more interested in the noisy rooster who kept cockadoodle-dooing to let all the other animals know the zoo was open. William walked most of the three hours we were there. He walked up to the ducks to look at them and tell me they were ducks, and he loved playing chase in the reptile house as he circled a column of turtle terrariums. He was amazed by the snake-necked turtles that were swimming in their tank, and he liked the large tortoises who were sharing a cage with the iguanas. He recognized that the tamarins were "monkeys," and he pointed to the leopard and called it a "kitty."

Mommy enjoyed watching the lemurs play--especially as the baby jumped on top of the adult lemurs. She was also glad she finally got to see the otter as he has been hidden the last several trips to the zoo. The lion, though, did not cooperate. Brutus sat at the back of his cage when Mommy and William first stopped by, but when we were in the woods, we could hear him roaring. We heard him give three other performances, but every time we made it back to his cage, he was laying down. No show for us! Rocky the tiger also did not cooperate. He was on top of his rocks as we were making our way to his cage, but as we neared, he decided it was time to go into his little house. The big cats were party poopers for us today.

William did not seem to mind. His favorite things at the zoo? The acorns and leaves that he picked up along the trails. And when we saw the black bears in their cage--Mommy pointed to the back and said, "Look, bears!" to which William pointed and said, "Ball!" He was more interested in the bears' red ball than the bears themselves. Oh, well. At least he had a great time!