John is lucky to have a whole lot of Aunts (and will have another one by month's end). Tim and I, for better or worst, grew up with another half. Tim and his sister are a few years apart while my brother and I are a year apart. Nice to have a built in playmate, but not nice enough for me to want another child quite yet.
Today, Johnny got to enjoy some time with his Auntie Nee' along with Mommy and Daddy. John loves that Auntie comes to visit him on the "choo, choo" and we got to pick her up right by the zoo.
Since the high today was around fifty, the zoo was pretty quiet. Our first stop was to the monkey house to visit John's favorites. It was so nice because we had the place practically to ourselves. I learned that Gibbons were Apes because they are tailless and we got to see some really cool monkeys and gorillas. Johnny had no fear and would go as far as he could to see what he wanted and would beg to be picked up if he didn't have a good enough view.
After the monkey house, the Fisher men had quite a bit of fun being fish. The Fisher women took a pass.
The fun thing about being married to someone close in age to you that grew up within miles of you is all the shared memories you have. We were talking about taking a train in Brookfield Zoo as children, but we didn't know if a train had once existed or if our memory mistook the tram for a train as Johnny did today. Anyone know?
After that was the Family Play Zoo. As "plus" members, we got in for free. It was John's favorite part! He got to play zookeeper, learn about cats, pet different animals and become a kitty himself. These pictures tell the story.
After that, we saw some big cats outdoors and had our picnic. Mommy made PB&, cut up apples and brought chips, cookies and water. Mommy and Dad got some pop thanks to refillable cups the zoo offers for $10.00 for a year (Grandma Eleanor would be proud) and Auntie brought the best licorice I've had in years. This is the first time we picnicked it and it was SUCH a good idea. A friend gave us a big insulated bag type cooler and it was PERFECT. Besides the Canadian geese begging for food and getting too close to John, it was a great time. I tried hissing at the geese, but those little buggers are FEARLESS. Luckily, they didn't get too close to John, but got him pretty pissed off when he dropped his apple slice and they ate it.
We then wandered around to see some more cats. Our favorite was the Fish Cat who has webbed feet to better catch fish.
We also visited the Swamp where John read about the animals. We ended the day with the water animals and John's favorite, the penguins.
Before we knew it, nearly five hours had passed. We left the zoo and dropped Auntie back to the "Choo, Choo." Then, someone went fast to sleep. What an action packed day!
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