Our Trip To The Zoo

The weather was beautiful Saturday so we decided to take Elliott to the zoo. 
It wasn't exactly the kind of zoo I'm accustomed to, it was much smaller, more
like a large exotic farm really.  But I think I actually liked it better.  You
could see the animals up close and didn't have to fight large crowds to do so. 

It was fun introducing Elliott to animals that he had previously only seen in
books.  Until now, I don't know if he knew those characters were all real or if
he even knew the difference between pictures and reality, but he surely does
now.  Each moving, talking creature he recognized sparked a wide smile of
discovery.  His eyes locked wide open while we took in the ducks at the first
stop and began to immediately focus on the monkeys at the next.  In fact, that
became the theme of his chant at each stop - "more animals, more animals" he
said, anxious to see what was roaming inside of the pens ahead.  

I think it was my first real taste of what it will be like to share in our
boys' discoveries.  My zoo experience leads me to believe that many of those
discoveries will allow me to see things as I never have before, or at least not
that I remember.  To me a giraffe has always just been a giraffe.  But Saturday,
watching Elliott stare at one in awe, the giraffe was probably as amazing to me
as it was the very first time I saw one.  I am grateful for all of these
revelations ahead and the joy they provide.