Weekend Outing #2: The Zoo

We decided that it might be fun for Liam to see some real, live polar bears in action so today we were off to the zoo. The nearest zoo is about 30 minutes away and it does have polar bears.

As soon as we arrived it started pouring down rain. No fooling, wind and rain sideways, etc. We were undeterred, but did spend the first 30 minutes in the aquarium part of the zoo (indoors). Then it was on to penguins (okay), walruses (a big hit), beluga whales and sea otters (okay), POLAR BEARS (squealing, jumping and growling), caribou (no reaction), and meerkats (another big hit). We ended at the petting zoo, which consisted of one well-behaved sheep and a pack of very aggressive goats. Liam thought they all were a bit much and did not wish to pet. So we washed our hands and then on to the gift shop where, being the good zoo patrons that we are, we bought Liam a zoo pullover (fleece, on sale) and a $35 stuffed polar bear that is as big as he is. He made a bee-line in the store for it and wouldn't put it down.

Oh, the glamour of parenthood: lugging your 25 pound kid and his 35 dollars worth of stuffed polar bear up 4 flights of stairs to the car. In the rain. Liam was chatty most of the way home, ate a big snack in the car, and then went fast asleep as soon as we left the highway here in town. He sleeps away still.

Photos are: on the way to the zoo; watching the polar bear; watching the polar bear some more; telling daddy all about the polar bear; and, clutching the stuffed polar bear all the way home (hard to do this and eat goldfish crackers, grapes and cheese at the same time, but Liam managed; he also insisted that the stuffed polar bear have some water from the sippy cup).