Lions, tigers and...

Giraffes?

Bob, Megan and Rylan Fees invited us to join them on a family trip to the zoo today. We had so much fun! I had originally planned on waiting to take Natalie, figuring she wouldn't benefit too much from the zoo, or even care all that much. Boy was I wrong; she had a blast!

Natalie saw sea lions, polar bears, puffins, arctic foxes, fish, black and grizzly bears, otters and lemurs. Unfortunately, she fell asleep before seeing the giraffes, lions, gorillas and elephants... all animals I think she really would have enjoyed. Of all the animals she did see, puffins were her favorite. She kicked her legs and squealed in delight, it was so precious.

Another first Natalie had today was her very first carousel ride. I was determined that if she didn't do anything else, she was going to ride the carousel. She sat on her antelope (I think), I strapped her in and she beamed ear to ear. She held on to the pole like a big girl and sat straight up. As the carousel turned and her antelope went up and down she squealed some more and laughed. Chase got a two second video... it's not much but I'll post it anyway.

Natalie also rode on a bus for the first time today.. she broke all the rules. She stood up and was very loud. I guess it's OK though, she can get away with most anything she wants.

Today was wonderful, Natalie had so much fun and got a few "firsts" under her belt. I feel warm all over, mostly because my heart is full of happiness from watching the innocent joy she experienced today and partially because I got one killer sunburn.