I can't tell you how wonderful it has been to spend all this time with Gabriela. Last Wednesday Lane and I took her back to the Oakland Zoo. We asked her what she wanted to do that day and gave her some ideas - Fairyland, the zoo, the park, etc. Gabriela said, "Fairyland! um. wait! no. (holds her hand up) THE ZOO!!!!!" So I packed a picnic lunch and off we went. I just love how we have been getting in for free with our FONZ (Friends of the National Zoo) membership.
First stop - petting and brushing the goats. Gabriela is a professional now. She went straight to the brush bin and got to work.
Next stop - watching the flying fox bats. These guys have a wingspan of six feet and are the biggest bats in the world! They were fascinating with their translucent wings, their upside down climbing on the ropes, screeching and squabbles with each other. Gabriela scolded the bats and told them, "BE NICE!"
We were sure to catch the river otters' feeding time. Gabriela adored watching the otters swoop right in front of her to grab their little fish body lunches. They also got sweet potatoes, but weren't too excited about those, and saved them for when all the fish were gone.
Here's a cool stick insect from the Bug House.
My favorite part was checking out this chimpanzee. These guys aren't usually very interactive. But this particular one just sat right at the edge of the glass and made eyes at us while Lane took a bazillion photos of him. He'd raise his eyebrows, and even nodded his head at us in response to a wave. We overheard some other zoo-goers saying that there were two new chimps at the zoo, retired from the movies. Perhaps this was why he wasn't camera shy. We could have watched him for hours, but wanted to give other people a chance to check out the chimpanzees too.
Before heading out, Gabriela and Daddy walked across the lily pads in the children's zoo area. Gabriela didn't really get it at first and tried to take a big step into the water. Whoops.
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