The Giraffes Are Sleeping

For the better part of a year, Chad has been keeping Gracie out of daycare on Tuesdays so they can spend one-on-one time together. Chad always plans something fun for them to do on their special day together, and one week I was fortunate enough to join them on a trip to the zoo.

Like many kids, Gracie loves the zoo. The elephants are usually her favorite attraction, but on this particular day when asked which animal she was most excited to see, she immediately replied, "Giraffes!" So off we went in search of the giraffes.

First stop: Monkeys.



... then tigers:



... and then, reluctantly, zebras:



Although the other animals were nice, Gracie was getting impatient to see those giraffes! And wouldn't you know it... when we finally found the giraffe area, there were none to be seen. Regretfully, we had to inform our little giraffe girl that the giraffes were sleeping. From that day forward (and I'm not exaggerating), she has informed us that the giraffes are, indeed, sleeping.

After that small disappointment, we decided it was a good time for a picnic lunch. We found a spot on the lawn just in time to watch the birds of prey show.



The highlight of the show was the majestic bald eagle that flew directly above us to its perch onstage:





After the show, we decided to take a ride on the zoo train. Despite the many times Grace has been to the zoo, she has not ridden the train since the very first time we took her when she was only two-months old! She thought it was silly when we told her she slept through the whole ride that time.









Here we are on our way back to the zoo entrance. Gracie is showing us her monkey impression:



After a quick stop at the zoo store (Gracie picked out the beaver she has in her hand, as well as a fun I Spy Zoo Animals book), we called it a day. It sure was a fun one!