Sunday, May 13, 2012

Grandpa is in town - Why not go to the zoo?

John's dad arrived in Toronto Thursday afternoon and it's great to have him here.  Helena has been busy covering him with stuffed animals, books, and Rubbermaid containers - what a great playmate to go along with it all.  He just bought a new horse so it's also been fun to watch the horse video on his phone :)


We went to the zoo yesterday and had a great time.  John and I noticed a few things:

1) A zoo is fun for all ages.  Really.
2) Visiting a zoo with a toddler is COMPLETELY different than visiting it with just adults.
3) Being in a zoo just makes you take pictures.  A lot of them. 


The lion may be the king of the jungle, but the peacock is obviously the king of the Toronto Zoo.  They are walking all over the place!


One of the animal sounds Helena makes is an elephant sound, and the Toronto elephants are going to soon be moved, so they were the real motivation to get out to the zoo.  We were blessed with lots of interesting time with them & a zoo keeper too!


We're pretty sure this fake hollow log was way more interesting to Helena, though.  A good bit of time was spent going back and forth in it.


The other highlight for Helena was probably all the dandelions.  Too bad some of them were inside the animals' areas!

Seeing the sloths was really great.  I don't know about you but every other time I've seen a sloth, he or she does nothing.  This time, however, there were two sloths - a mother and a 1 year-old - and they moved.  It was heartwarming to see how the mother protected her child. 


He lays on her chest while they move.  Then, he will reach out for the limbs and hang on by himself but she keeps her body under his.  Gives him independence yet is there to catch him if he falls.  I don't usually talk like this, but it was honestly beautiful to see the two of them together.


John's latest joke:

What do you get when you cross a giraffe, a goose and a crab?


Flamingos!

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