Like many babies and toddlers, Benji enjoys a good trip to the zoo. But, like many babies also, he is not impressed by the same things the adults and older kids are. He's been to zoos twice (as well as Disney's Animal Kingdom and a nature center here in Richmond) and in every case it was the small mammals, the ducks (or geese), and the plants that captivated him. So, you will not see the impressive animals in the photos and descriptions that follow.
During our Christmas visit to Chicago the weather was nice (for winter in Chicago, at least) so we spent one of our days at Brookfield Zoo. Unfortunately, our camera battery died partway through the zoo trip and Grandpa forgot his camera at home so we don't have too many pictures of this zoo trip. We took Benji to see the gorillas, elephants, rhinos, and bears, none of which impressed him. We went out of our way to find the zebras and giraffes because at the time Benji was very into those animals from his Noah's Ark toy. He seemed to like the giraffes most of all the large animals. The giraffes were particularly active, running after each other, and the display allowed Benji to get a pretty good view from his stroller. But, the geese (which he called ducks) and the carousel were his favorite parts of the zoo.
Uncle Dave was very interested in visiting Tropic World to see the gorillas so we spent quite a bit of time there. Benji enjoyed it, but was far more interested in climbing the stairs and checking out the foliage than actually looking at the gorillas.
Benji tried to climb off the carousel while waiting for it to start. Patience is not his strong suit.
After the carousel got moving, Benji had a great time.
Back at Memorial Day we took Benji to Washington, D.C., to the National Zoo and the Air & Space Annex. We had thought he would really love the Zoo and it would be great weather. It turns out the weather was too good -- very hot! So we spent the day wandering from shady spot to air conditioning. Since Benji was most fond of the small mammals, it worked out well since the small mammal house and bird exhibits were air conditioned.
Daddy took Benji to the front of the crowd to see the elephants, but he didn't seem impressed at all.
I can't remember what animal this is, but it looks like a big mouse. Benji loved it.
Daddy helped Benji to get a better view of the golden tamarind,
Benji could get much closer to the plants than to the animals, so they were particular favorites.
A nice Mommy-baby photo.
Benji's hanging out at the zoo without Mommy and Daddy? Uh oh!
i sincerely do not know what you are doing here. are you lost? were you
looking for your delicate calico cat, and did you follow her up two flights of stairs
to this room? she is not here. she was here, yes. we gave her a warm bowl of milk, we talked with her about campaign finance reform for a time, and then she bid us good day. i believe she was
going to the post office two blocks down, but i don't quite recall.
for surely you did
not find your way from prinsiana, the least traveled site on
the internet. if you did, though, perhaps you are looking for humor. perhaps you are looking for profundity. perhaps you are looking for answers.
i'm sorry, but you shall go naught-for-three.
