Zoo, Take Two!
The last time I took Baby Bug to the zoo she was more interested in hanging from the railings than looking at the animals. It totally blew. But then again, she was only one. What did I expect?
What a difference a year and a half makes!
We hit the zoo early today with Bethany and Annalie and it was a completely different experience. First of all we were there in the morning so there were more animals awake. Second, there was no pressure to do the whole park in one day. Bethany has a membership to the Zoo and she had a guest pass for me. (Bug is still free since she’s under three.) Since we were there for free, we didn’t feel like we had to squeeze every penny out of our day and leave the park exhausted. This made a huge difference for me.
The railings were still a source of great interest but this time we actually looked at animals too and had a really good time. I think a lot of it also had to do with Baby Bug’s maturity and her willingness to do just about anything if there is an older kid to copy. She loves older kids. She also loves Annalie.
Good thing Annalie likes her back. Even if she is a big fat spider about to eat poor little Buzzy Bug.
15 Comments
bethany actually
Low-pressure zoo days are the BEST! That is why I bought the membership. :-)
The Chatty Housewife
That spider web photo rocks.
Annika
I could never go to the zoo if not for our membership! It would be WAY too stressful.
Sonja
I remember the “FUN DAY AT THE ZOO” with my niece and nephew with shudders. We played on the playground, we payed extra to ride the (extremely lame) train, we fought over who would push the stroller (me or my nephew, who could not see where he was going), and we saw no animals at all. Even better, on the way home my nephew asked if we could go to Chuck E. Cheese’s. You know, to have some fun.
Rookie Sahm
Well, After few to many outings I learned two rules:
1. Especially with a toddler, do not expect them to follow your guide. If I go with their flow, everyone has a stress-free day.
2. If I really need to go out where I need to follow a route, I have an adult companion who can follow the toddler in the other direction, while I do my stuff in the direction I planned to go.
It gets better in the preschool years, but I still prefer to follow my son’s lead as much as possible. Later I can manipulate him to the direction I want using Socratic methods.
Kuky
Hee hee! What great pictures. From that “I don’t know what animal” lounging there to the hugging pictures. So sweet.
And we have to try the zoo again. The last time we went Isabelle wasn’t interested. But maybe she will be now. We brought her to the Monterey Bay Aquarium last week and she was interested in the otters. But funnily enough only later in the day when they were all asleep. She wasn’t at all interested in them when they were wide awake and wandering all over the place and swimming.
mamalang
It gets better, and then they get too old for the zoo. Enjoy it while you can.
Gayle
Those photos are so good! I love the ones of the girls hugging, and the spider and the fly.
Aladyinredpolish
ADORABLE pics of the two of them hugging. Sounds like a fun day!! ANother great petting zoo that is very cheap to get into and its small enough to go through in one hour, but its great fun and petting is in Downtown San Juan Capistrano. You can have a bite to eat too down there after.
Audrey
I love the spider/fly picture!! We have a zoo pass to our local zoo and we LOVE it because we can go and not feel like we’re “wasting” money by just seeing a few things each time. It’s already paid for itself in our four visits this past summer.
bluejaye
We are at the “too old to go to the stupid zoo” stage. Oh, where did the years go.
Clownfish
It’s been years since I have been to the zoo. We would always go to the LA Zoo. Remember the opening to the show Three’s Company? I remember going in the front entrance of the LA Zoo when it looked like that, haha.
The pictures of the girls are great and I just love the one of the lounging animal. When I’m feeling like him/her, life doesn’t get better!
Maria
Loving these zoo pictures and can’t wait until my baby girl will be able to enjoy the zoo. She still doesn’t even see the dog as anything more than furniture. :)
Jennifer
Sounds like a great zoo visit. You got such great pictures too! I remember the first time we took Emily to the zoo and she wanted to sit and stare at an alligator for what seemed like an hour.
I second the suggestion to go to the San Juan Capistrano Zoo. It’s small and they have a big pen full of rabbits. They are everywhere! I think they just started out with 2 and then, well ya know :P
HotRodHanna
The zoo is always a facinating place to visit. Those Meerkats are my favorite to see! Caleb always asks where the zee-bas are.