Dad, Lucas, and I went to the zoo today. It was totally dead. Lotsa moms, kids and a few couples, but boy, was it quiet. There were no throngs. It seems that the zoological society takes advantage of these lulls in attendance to do maintenenance as the Children’s Zoo Petting Corral was closed for major renovations and half the reptile mesa was inaccesible due to resurfacing of the pathways.
As we walked in, the information booth man was telling someone else about the Sea Lion Show at Wegeforth Bowl starting in a few minutes and Dad and I said ‘What the heck’ and walked over there ourselves with Lucas in tow. The show was thankfully brief as the amphitheater was bathed in hot November sunlight and well, the show was a little light on content. Basically the whole show seemed to be based on the difference between sea lions and seals (not very much). It was cool to see a sea lion and a gray wolf up close and personal (we were in the first row), but due to the super loud amplified music and the sun and the light content I cannot recommend the show.
Then we headed back towards the Children’s Zoo to walk through the small displays. Lucas refused to walk and when I tried to carry him, he demanded that Dad carry him. I asked Dad how it felt to be Lucas’ preferred holder. He said he felt pretty special and that it made up for all sorts of things. We saw a little tiny monkey (smaller than a rat and much much cuter), macaws (which are parrots), naked mole rats, a binturong walking along the paths and the most awesome otter. This little guy has a small enclosure, but still very nice, in the back of the Children’s Zoo and in all our other visits I’d never been back there. He was doing a circuit through the water, up on the rocks, across the beach, back down through the water, swimming in front of the observation windows to the delight of the children who would press their hands on the glass. It was awesome to watch, he seemed to be doing it just because he could. Dad was holding Lucas above the level of the water, looking for the otter after one of his circuits. Lucas could see the otter through the water coming towards them, but Dad couldn’t, and Lucas startled back into Dad when the otter came near almost like he thought the otter would come through the glass.
We also visited the reptile houses on the reptile mesa, concentrating mostly on the snake, lizard, and frog houses. Those are perfect for children Lucas’ age. They have a little ledge running along under the observation windows for children to walk on. Lucas met another little boy around his age and they played together for twenty minutes or so, looking into the displays, showing one another frogs, lizards, and snakes, clowning around on the ledge and the benches. ‘Twas super cute.
After we stopped to have little something to eat, Lucas started to lose it. He was tired, he was hot, and he wasn’t going to take it anymore. So we packed up and headed home. It is nice to live so close to the zoo for this very reason: no pressure. We go for a few hours and when tempers get thin or it gets too hot, crowded or whatever, we pack up and go home, knowing that next time we’ll see something new or something we didn’t get to see today. Ho hum.
