A Zoo Day

Friday John and Kylie only had a half-day of school, but Eric and Liz had to be at their schools all day. Kylie was invited to a birthday party and we got to spend the afternoon with John. We were there when he got off the school bus and I heard him yell "Papa" as he started to run toward us.



How do you like the Daffy Duck hat Papa gave John?



We hadn't been to the Denver Zoo for many years, but John knew his way around and knew what animals he wanted to see. Of course, we visited the giraffes.



As we were having an after-school snack of hot dogs and ice cream, we watched a woman work with Gidget, the sea lion.



Many things have changed at the zoo since we were there last and they have a huge construction project going on to provide new space for the elephants and other Asian species. John had to take a look.



Here are Papa and John posing in front of the current elephant compound.



John told us there was a train we could ride at the zoo. I think he knew his Papa would never pass up a train ride. After the trip, Papa showed John all the parts of the engine.



We think John's favorite animals were the penguins. We began searching for them as soon as we came in the gates. Finally we found their pool and we had a great time watching them swim and pose for us.



There were so many things to see at the zoo that this little boy just pooped out and went to sleep.



John had somewhere else to go Friday afternoon, as well. I helped him get dressed in his Taekwando uniform and we drove him to the class he takes with his dad. Doesn't he look sharp? And notice the face painting of a dragon on his right cheek. He was careful to sleep only on the left side of his face Thursday night so it would last for at least two days. John really loves dinosaurs. We were sorry we couldn't find any at the zoo.