Franklin Park Zoo

It was Friday.  Mom had the day off.  We had no errands we HAD to run.  So... Connor and I went to the zoo!  The Franklin Park Zoo isn't too far away, so we packed a bag, grabbed the camera, and off we went.  Since I have a membership to another zoo, I got 50% off the admission.  Not bad! 

Connor was very excited to see the animals.  He kept saying "Monkey?  Monkey?" before we left.  When we got there we saw the zebras first.  Connor knew just what they were and shouted "Zebra!" when he saw them.  He also saw the Wildebeasts, but he thought they were zebras, too.  Give the kid a break, he's still learning.  He loved the giraffes, and it was even the first birthday for one of them!  As we left them, Connor said "bye, bye, Giraffes!".  Off we went to the lion, but he was sleeping.  I think there's a rule to never wake a sleeping lion, so we went on our merry way. 

We hit the petting zoo area where we saw Chickens, goats, ducks, sheep and a horse.  The horse was all about getting some scratches behind the ear, which Connor and I both loved.  She just stayed in place and let us pet her.  She was loving it and Connor was, too.  "Horsie! Horsie! Neigh!".  I think this trip was good for his speech - he was talking all day, pointing to different animals and telling me what they were and what they said.  Very cute. 

The highlight of the day were the gorillas.  They were leaning against the window, so they were right in front of all the kids who were there.  Connor got right up to the glass to see.  It was hard to get a good picture of anything, because trying to focus the zoom lens AND keep an eye out for a toddler who LOVES to run was a little challenging, so the pictures suffered.  I did get a few with my cell phone, too.  I chose NOT to take a picture of the gorilla picking his nose, or the one EATING his own poo.  I figured I'd save you all the pain that I went through watching that. 

My goal of today's trip was to get Connor thoroughly exhausted before we left.  It worked.  He was so tired he didn't want to even walk anymore.  I can't blame him - his little legs did a LOT of walking.  He crashed in the car, which meant NO pacifier battle for naptime (we took the pacifier away this week and it has been a long, tiring road).