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Saturday, April 19, 2008

Erin goes to the S.F. Zoo

Friday was a good day. I managed to squeeze in a workout and feed my daughter to the ducks.

Er. Carefully set my daughter down in an area where many ducks were.

We went to the San Francisco Zoo, me and her, this explorer, intrepid adventurer daughter of mine.

She was very excited about it.

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She is also growing up into quite the little monkey.

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Sorry: ape.

Doesn't she look cute in that hat?

She loves wearing it.

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She was also quite pleased to see the chimpanzees in a close replica of their natural environment. Apparently the San Francisco Zoo found these chimps in the Charlton Heston future where they've developed mad construction skills and enjoy building forts.

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Because I paid $11 to get into the place, I thought it only fitting that we spend our time doing what we could only do at the San Francisco Zoo.

So we went to the playground and swung on yet another swing.

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And we sat in the grass and ate flowers.

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Finally we went to the Children's Zoo area. And this part is serious: they have a neat little school house there that is open for free play, with their toys, from 2-3pm or so. They also have pre-arranged classes for toddlers. But the free play time, in the middle of the day, in a nice big room that I could lie down in, was just awesome.DSC04998

After the school house we went to the farm, and I let Erin molest the goats. They were not amused. Except for this one. Dude is smiling.

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In partial revenge I allowed the goats to convince me that it would be funny to feed Erin to the ducks. Erin goes ape for ducks (yep, just linked the top and bottom of this post together; that's just how I roll), and she was freaking out that these little guys were just wandering around next to her and swimming in the pond behind her.

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So I threw her in the pond and went to get lunch. When I got back she had tamed them all and convinced them to lift her out of the pond, dry her off, make her some lunch, and give her a present.DSC04942

No. That's a lie. The present was from her Tota.

Not a bad day.

"I totally saw ducks, guys. And a monkey. And some meerkitties. And a bunny. And some ducks. And my dad bought me a beer."

No, sweetie. I bought you a 'bear'. I got that beer for free.

Yeah. I'm a sucker like that. I'll spend eight bucks on a bear she's going to eat for twenty minutes and then throw out of her car seat on to the floor.

I'd do it every day if I had the floorspace in the car.

8 comments:

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

Some of my best times with my oldest son were spent at the San Diego Zoo. We had annual passes and we went 2-3 times a week for a couple of years.

He'll be 18 in a couple of weeks and we're both going to play hooky from school that day and go to the zoo.

You're bringing back great memories from when I was a backpacking mom!

I can't find my blog said...

Today the Zoo, tomorrow the prom. I tell you-way.too.fast! Don't turn around or it will be gone.

carrie said...

I don't know what I'd do without our zoo and the annual pass --

Your daughter is adorable and I'm laughing because none of my kids (when they were babies) would keep a cute hat on their head no matter how hard I tried!

SciFi Dad said...

Great photos.

I still remember our first zoo trip. Not completely unlike yours, although sans backpack and plus a stroller.

We enjoyed it so much, we got a membership (although the T.O. Zoo admission is a lot more than $11, so the membership paid for itself after 2 visits) and go probably 3-4 times a year, maybe more.

Mama Smurf said...

Love the photos and captions! That one beautiful little girl ya got there!

What a great dad!

Patti said...

I love zoo trips. We have one planned for May 31 as part of a Wigs for Kids charity walk. We went last year and gots some amazing pics and the kids had a great time. I tried feeding mine to the butterflies (they had an awesome exhibit called Butterfly Magic)...at another trip, there was a dinosaur exhibit and a t-rex ate my head (i have pics to prove it)

Your post gave me a serious chuckle...the bear and beer part had me spitting my coffee out...

I know you already know this, but Erin is a total doll baby...she is so precious.

for a different kind of girl said...

Dude...they give out free beer at the S.F. Zoo? If such be the case, it makes all the swinging and grass eating and goat touching totally worth it!

Backpacking Dad said...

Jenn: Emily and I used to have passes to the SD Zoo. And my boss use to be the Chair of the Zoological Society, so he had our company Christmas party at the zoo one year and they brought out all kinds of animals for us to eat. Er. "Learn about."

Headless Mom: No boys!

Carrie: yeah, I might break down and get a pass. It's just so pleasant there. And I'm so stoked that I was able to get that shot before the hat was completely off of her head.

SciFi Dad: I remember going to the T.O. zoo in high school and really enjoying it. Even though I was herding 10 kids around, trying to keep them from jumping in the bear pit.

Thopgood: Stop. You're making me blush.

Patti: Maybe I'll bring Erin somewhere so she can see dinosaurs next.

FADKOG: I wish...and even if they were I wouldn't have taken it. Not when I'm the only adult around to drive home. Although...Erin is getting really coordinated....she could probably handle the steering wheel...