A Day at the Zoo

Well, a half a day at the zoo, because my daughter is only four, and didn't quite make it to lunch.

We had a good morning, though. We started at the aviary and butterfly garden, which were close to the main entrance. My big girl loves butterflies, and, as I thought she would, she loved the butterfly garden. Her eyes lit up when we went in and she saw what was there: dozens of colorful butterflies, flitting around bright tropical flowers.

I had to tell her not to chase them, or to try to catch them. She's only 4, and rather exuberant at times. Still, once she managed to slow down, she was very well behaved. I took her to watch a particularly large butterfly eating from a flower, and explained how it drinks nectar. She leaned over to watch, and was careful not to get too close.

And when a butterfly landed on her, she stood very still until a docent waved it off.

The aviary was less exciting, actually. Most of the birds stayed up high, in the dome, and were hard to see. A small duck did walk right across her feet, though.

Later, we went to the penguin house. She loves penguins almost as much as she loves butterflies, and pressed herself up to the glass to watch them swim. I think one penguin was watching her, in return.

After the penguins, we saw the seals. She loved them, especially when they went into the water and started spinning over and over. We had a special treat: it was feeding time, and we got to watch them go after the fish. Some of the seals were content to eat in the water, but one of them flopped out of the pool and started chasing the zookeeper who had the bucket of fish. My daughter liked that one the best.

When we got home, she took a nap. She doesn't do that too often, so I guess all the fun wore her out. She's a good kid.