The zoo

While we didn't make it out of the house when I wanted to, we did make it to the zoo early enough to enjoy a close-by parking space and lots of humidity, heat and absolutely no breeze. But my two companions took it in stride.

We even went into the petting area today. It was June's suggestion. I didn't suggest it on our previous trip because I figured John would be scared. I didn't say anything one way or the other today and let June lead the way. And wouldn't you know, John walked right in like he owned the place. No trepidation amongst these slow moving goats. Definitely surprised me!

And since we were on a roll and June wanted to ride the carousel, we gave it a try, too. Another success! The only time he seemed a bit nervous the whole day was when we went into the Lion tunnel, which was dark and quiet. He didn't like it at all but managed to make it out holding both my and June's hands.

We didn't cover the whole zoo today, but we got to most of it. We saw the baby elephant Baylor again (of course!). And while at the elephant exhibit I saw something unusual to me. An elephant was taking a dip in the pool, often being totally submerged, only his trunk above the waterline. It was fun sight to see! And we saw the bald eagle, one of John's favorites. In the aquarium we saw some unusual jellyfish that had what looked like frilly lace around the edges. Very interesting, even for me since jellyfish kind of wig me out (along with eels and octopus, both of which we saw today, too). The last of our adventure today was to take the train around Hermann Park. June had never been on it and was surprised at how the long the route was.

We ended up eating a late lunch, which set us up for a late nap. Seems to be a habit for our recent zoo trips. After our last trip to the zoo, No-Nap Pitcher visited. But today, after a good rocking by Cousin June, John did nap for a couple of hours. She said she wanted to rock John and I had my doubts that it wouldn't turn into a fidget-fest. But they made it work. This photo is so blurry, but it shows a moment of connection between the two of them. Cousins are the best! We were all so tired from the heat that I'm surprised we didn't all take a little snooze this afternoon!

-EBP-