Friday, April 17, 2009

Going on Safari

Today, I christen thee Spring. I wish I had a bottle of champagne to smash, or drink – whatever, to fully embrace today.

After a few weeks of teasing temperatures, I think that we can fully declare springtime in our nation’s capitol. It’s going to be 70+ degrees today, with the same promising warmth and sunshine tomorrow. In lieu of booze, we will be celebrating by taking Grace to the zoo tomorrow.

Some of my best childhood memories are from spending days, which probably added up to months over 15-ish years of childhood, strolling around Brookfield Zoo. It is funny, how even now, I know the layout of that zoo like tweens know the layout of malls. I have stories about statues and exhibits; I have memories of benches and stalls; I have smells forever engrained on my psyche; I have photos of hugs and laughter.

As a parent, I can’t wait to make our first trip to our new zoo, The National Zoo, and relive those memories through Gracie’s eyes.

This will be her first time to hear actual animals make noises instead of me and Matt. Sure she know the call and response to cow, horse, monkey, snake, lion, donkey, duck and more, but I want to see the excitement on her face when she gets to see a real live monkey hanging from a tree.

So stay tuned. We are charging the camera batteries tonight and there will be a full pictorial issue of our adventure coming shortly.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would get there early. The forecast sounds fantastic and I can imagine it will be packed. Have you been to the Baltimore Zoo?

John

Shannon said...

We've checked. The grounds open at 6am, and we will be there shortly after. No we haven't been to the Baltimore Zoo, but it is expensive to get into and they don't have pandas.