In Chicago the zoo is free!

Despite the excitement we feel at a free zoo in our future, we still found time to go to "Zoo Atlanta" before we leave. This was Jacob's second time to this zoo, but it was Nico's and my first time. Namely because a year ago our family looked like this:














and so Grandma Jan and Papa took him to distract him from the fact that HIS LIFE WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME. (I love this picture of Grandma and Jacob.)


















I hadn't been to a zoo in about a million years and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I had pretty ominous memories of snake houses and monkeys with red bottoms from the zoo experiences of my youth and I just wasn't sure if I'd fit in at a zoo. Thankfully we steered clear of the snake house (wouldn't want to scare the children) and there was not a red bottom in sight. Phew indeed.

We went with our friend Miss Caroline (it's a southern thing...I'm known as "Miss Robyn" 'round these parts) and her three kids.

Some highlights include:

Smelly flamingos:














Lots of blessed shade, a fun table and good friends to enjoy lunch with:














A merry-go-round:














A cute girl to squeeze while on the merry-go-round:














And a petting zoo:

Jacob really showed his sensitive side with these goats. He grabbed a brush and got busy.














I guess he didn't care to brush the one right next to him. Too easy!














Nicholas, on the other hand, had to be restrained as his love for all creatures great and small leads to his pulling handfuls of hair out of the poor little guys. The man in this picture was slowly driving himself crazy in his efforts to protect the animals from the mobs of kids. He fussed around with a broom eternally sweeping up goat droppings while calling out to anyone who would hear him to, "close the gate!" or "don't pull Mildred's tail!" or to simply "get away from Dexter!". I found him a little weird but also pretty charming. Such love for goats. It's touching.














The zoo was also the place that Nicholas had a chance to show off his new red shoes. Who knew that such blindingly bright red shoes would be so wonderful. Let me explain: you never lose a red shoe.


















So, in summation, the zoo was lots of fun and we're looking forward to lots of trips to the FREE zoo in Chicago. Come see us and we'll treat you!