The Zoo

Here's a story about something Anna's never around for -- the Zoo! Anna's really not an animal person, but Lara and I love the zoo. Here's a shot of Lara strolling in through the entrance.



She's definitely strutting around as if she owns the place; she already knows where most of the animals are - in the car on the way there she said, "Want the sakes! Want the tuh-tos [turtles]! Weptie-os [reptiles]!" (the house of reptiles is the first indoor building in the zoo, and thus our first stop when we've gone in the winter). Of course, when we got there, Lara announced, "Want to see the piggy! Want a doggie!" I guess everything's still equally exotic. Since we got there late, most animals "had to take a nap" (it's no longer as fun to try to type things phonetically in Lara-speak, because she speaks so well!). We did see these amazingly colored male Mandarin mallards, which our tiny slow outdated camera didn't quite capture. They're apparently in mating season; there were 2 colorful guys chasing a dull-brown girl.



One of the animals becoming a favorite is the peacock; at the Philly Zoo, they have a bunch of peacocks that just stroll around the grounds. Last time we saw one flutter up into the black bear grounds. (The black bear is another favorite, partially, I think, because Lara could relate to it. When we last saw it, it was covered in dirt, leaves, and hay. Lara announced, "The back bear has to take a baff! Black bear is duh-ty!") Here's the peacock posing in a puddle:



And now something that has become as frequently demanded as the parade dancing: playing with Lara's favorite Hannukah present - a giant canvas tote bag (thanks, Amy! Bet this isn't what you thought we'd do with it!). "Daddy swing you! Daddy swing you! Dance in the bag!"