First Zoo Trip with Three Boys

Our favorite gorilla at the zoo, Patrick, was being sent to live at another zoo, so I put on my mom-of-three hat, packed everyone and everything up and off we went to bid adieu to our favorite furry friend.  After arriving at the zoo, we stopped by the gorilla area first, but there was no sign of Patrick...  We were sure he was napping somewhere.  So we headed off to a few other favorite areas before returning to look for Patrick.

We found a little "cabana" area to the side of the giraffes--perfect for lunch and a quick feeding for Little One.  Austin was cracking me up, insisting that the giraffes were really called "zebras."  He kept talking to them, saying "hello" and "come here, zebra!".  We moved a little bench over to the fence so the boys could stand higher up and get a good look at the animals.

Cooper started pulling some long pieces off a bush near where we were sitting and poked them through the fence.  And before we knew it, several giraffes were coming over to eat!  The boys loved it, and fed them through and under the fence for a good 30 minutes.  Austin wasn't quite sure about getting that close to the giraffes...umm, zebras...so he tended to push the grass through the holes before that long tongue come out to eat it.  He loved copying everything Coop was doing, too!

After everyone had full tummies, including the giraffes, we decided to head back over to find Patrick.  We walked up to the gorilla area just as a zoo keeper arrived--what perfect timing we had!  She happened to be Patrick's keeper and was there to feed him an afternoon snack!  The boys stood along the fence right next to the keeper as she started to call out, "Paaaatttrriiiccckkkk!  PATTY!  Patrick!  Come get your snack!"

And sure enough, out he came!  She told us he was probably napping, but he knows her voice and always responds to her.

He sat just in front of us, facing the zoo keeper, and she turned to the boys and asked, "Do you want to see his teeth?"  Coop's eyes got really big as he nodded, so the keeper held up a piece of fruit did some commands using her face, and sure enough, Patrick opened his mouth and showed us those huge sharp teeth!  (I was wishing I had my zoom lens on, but I was wearing Grayson, holding Austin, balancing my leg on the fence bar, all while trying to take some pictures!  Phew.  I could only snap a few pics.)  Then the keeper threw several pieces of fruit out for Patrick's snack.  The boys L-O-V-E-D this!  I am so glad we got such an "inside" moment with Patrick before he left for another zoo.  He really is so beautiful and huge.  And we have such great memories (and tons of great pictures) of this beautiful animal.

When Philip got home that evening from work, Austin gave him the most amazing description of our zoo visit.  We caught a little of it on video--it was definitely Austin's longest and most descriptive story yet!
This is what Austin told Philip:
A: Zoo.  Lil-la!!  Pat-ick!!  Pat-ick!! LOUD!  throw.  boing.  hit arm.  boing.  lil-la!  loud! num num num!  lil-la eat!!
Interpretation:
We went to the zoo.  The zoo keeper called "Patrick!  Patty!  Patrick" really loudly.  Zoo Keep through fruit at the gorilla.  It hit his arm.  Bounced off.  Gorilla picked it up and ate it.

09.27.2013