We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too too.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.

I've been singing this song to my girlies since they were just babes and they have definitely had plenty of opportunities to make the song a reality with our Phoenix zoo membership. We do renew every year but with the girls in preschool 3 days a week, and with my distaste for weekend trips there (don't like crowds) we haven't visited our animal friends in awhile. A trip was in the cards for many reasons such as: a) beautiful spring-like weather, b) a completely cleared schedule...wow...and, c) maintaining mom's sanity...yes I have two 5 year olds who have somehow managed to channel the inner 2-year old within and are thus temporarily unable to entertain themselves at home. Oh yes, a stimulating day, one in which mom didn't have to play Go Fish, or clean up or do dishes afterwards, was oh so needed!

And the day was lovely indeed. Kate saw her favorite zebras. Gracie saw the giraffes, flamingos and elephants, all of which she consistently names as her favorites...I even overheard her listing them as so to the dental hygienist at her last cleaning. I was happy to see baby Kasih, the almost 3-year old orangutan who we've visited since her birth, seem to enjoy the laughter that resulted from her silly behavior. We took the paddle boats around the lake, rode the safari train, and visited the stingray exhibit where Kate got drenched by a sea creature and had to change her clothes.

The important observations I made on this trip though did not involve the actual zoo animals but rather my own little monkeys . My two babies, the ones I used to push around the zoo in a double stroller while having to stop constantly in order to monitor snacks & sippy cups, change diapers, pacify with ba, etc., have become real little people with inquisitive minds and questions for which I don't always have the answers. As I observe the development of these rational minds, I am amazed and hopeful. I hope they will continue to question until they find answers that make sense to them. I hope they will make good choices by balancing this new intelligence with their always present intuition. And most importantly, I hope that with this developing new intelligence they never lose the magic and peace they experienced the first time they visited the zoo and looked at the animals, animals that were not all named and classified in the mind of an 18-month old, but rather experienced in the present... exactly as they were in that moment...exactly as they always will be.