Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Summertime!

Ah. . . It is hot here. And dry. And sunny. And we are getting around to some genuine summer activities. Including taking pictures on bright days.

We had stashed some Christmas money away and recently used it to buy a Cincinnati Zoo membership. We got the kind that includes free parking and one free guest; so come visit and we'll take you! Harper is a big fan of animals and taking her to the zoo is seriously one of the greatest pleasures I have known as a parent. Last year we visited zoos in Cincinnati, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee. This summer we may just take many return trips to the Cincinnati Zoo. The best part about having a membership is that we can leave first thing in the morning, spend a couple of hours at the zoo, and head home for lunch. I don't have to feel guilty for only being there a couple of hours because we didn't spend a fortune to get in and park.

On Saturday we took Dziatku to the zoo with us. Even though they look very serious in this photo, the two of them had a wonderful time.


The zoo I grew up with does not have a manatee exhibit, which has become one of my favorite parts of the Cinci Zoo. There were other fish swimming around with the manatees, and Harper kept insisting that they were babies. She would not be dissuaded. Did you know two-year-olds are experts in most subjects? Kind of like teenagers.

Potty training update:

I would like to mention that Harper wet her pants only once during the zoo excursion. Not bad, considering we were in the car for at least 45 minutes each way. We were standing in the reptile building when Harper got a funny look on her face; I looked down and she was creating a little puddle right there in her sandals. I suppose that is to be expected. And she made it through another gymnastics class today with no accidents, so I remain optimistic.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kels - I can't wait to go to the zoo in a couple of weeks. Hopefully Harper will still be interested in it!! Yeah for potty training.
Shannon

Mommy Daisy said...

Oh, that sounds like fun. We bought a membership to the North Carolina Aquariums when we were there. We went twice, so it was worth it. Plus we can get in free at the Toledo Zoo and Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo...both are about 1 1/2 hour from here. I have never been to the Cincinnati Zoo, but I've heard it's nice. I just looked and we can get in there for 1/2 price with our other membership.

Keeping up the potty training, yeah! She's doing great.

Emily said...

I wonder do all zoos have those brass animal statues to pose for photos? So funny! And we saw the Columbus manatees this weekend, too. We've been twice now and still haven't seen the whole thing. She really likes it, but she only realizes that about half of the animals are acutally animals (only the ones that are moving)

Erin said...

HEY, you also visited a zoo in St. Louis last year. During that visit, Calum tried to steal Harper's sippy cup. Also, we saw a naked chimp. (The naked [hairless] chimp is usually the most memorable part of a St. Louis zoo visit). Afterward, we watched something like 13 episodes of Arrested Development.