We spent our July 4th afternoon at the Pittsburgh Zoo, 89 miles from where we live now. A great place, a great day.
(I think the name Pittsburgh kind of blows. I was thinking of Hamburg and how that has a much nicer ring. I think they need to re-market themselves. Edinburgh, perhaps?)
We're back at 5:30 PM and TM's down for a nap before we go to see late fireworks. B's napping, too, which means they'll be chipper chickens come 11 PM when I'm falling asleep on my folding chair in the back of the pickup truck. They exhausted themselves.
I was nervous about going to the Zoo, primarily because I had become so familiar with the St. Louis Zoo. While we were there, it was practically a second home to us. I was worried it would be tiny and dirty and that the animals' habitats would suck. And then we wouldn't be able to visit regularly because of the depressing circumstances, and so on and so forth. I was very pleasantly surprised! It's a great, great place with a wonderful children's area. Complete with cars and boats.
(***Actually, Brian did see a grown man spit onto an alligator's back, which made me want one of those tazor guns that make people pee in their pants. Can you even imagine what the man's children will be like? SHUDDER.)
The elephants were so mesmerizing it was all I could do to stay on my side of the rope. One of them was tossing about in the pond, splashing water everywhere and looking like he was having a blast. I swear he had a tutu on under there.
I had originally chosen the beavers as my favorite animal at the zoo, which doesn't sound very exciting. Here's the thing: They were actively building a dam. And I'm one of those kinds of people who is really blown away by the power of evolution and the whole shebang, really. I was all, Look! The beavers are actually building a dam. Animals doing what animals do. Their jobs. Wonderful! The elephants left the beavers in their dust, unfortunately.
Oh, and I can jump as far as a penguin.
Go have fun.
1 Backseat Drivers:
Say it like it is! I love you.