Back to the zoo on the 4th of July ...

I surprisingly found myself with a lot of extra time yesterday, so I sought out my little "buddy" and we went to the zoo. Whenever you mention the zoo to Brendan, he gives a little skip and a jump and says: "Monkeys!" or "Animals!" with a very happy face.

I'm not a song writer by any means; but for some reason (only on very rare occasions), I have spontaneously sung a little made-up ditty just for fun. So yesterday as Brendan and I were taking the rather long walk (made a bit more heavy because I was carrying this brick of a boy through the parking lot) I began to sing: "Let's go see the monkeys! Let's go see them play! Let's go see the monkeys every single day!"

And from that time on, and throughout our zoo visit yesterday, Brendan sang that little ditty note for note, word for word, as we enjoyed our day. It was afternoon, well into "nap" time, while we were there. Perhaps that is why Little Fellow wanted to be carried … everywhere. We hiked on up to see the pygmy goats, a favorite area of Brendan's.

"Here you are, goats! Here you are!" said Brendan as he tried to feed the hay to them. 

I love this picture of Brendan. 

Such a precious little soul ... 

Brendan rarely leaves an exhibit on his own. He is a true explorer and never in any hurry whatsoever.  

We climbed up to the Tiger exhibit and once again … NO TIGERS to be seen. That's three strikes now! But look who we were able to meet instead! A bearded dragon!  

 We even got to touch him!

For sure, the best exhibit and I think this is Brendan's favorite, is the stingray pool. It is so much fun just to watch this little guy interact with these creatures! 

Look at Brendan's happy little face! He especially enjoys the "pup" ...

We spent close to two hours exploring the zoo, and we could have stayed much longer except that … I couldn't carry Brendan much further! 

So I coaxed him out of the zoo, past these beautiful flowers ... 

 … with the promise of ICE CREAM … and since a plain vanilla cone is only $.49 at McDonald's, that was our destination!

These pictures crack me up. It's just that Brendan is so seriously into his ice cream ... 

I'd say he's rather enthusiastic about it, wouldn't you? 

MMM … good to the very last bite! Love. LOVE. LOVE. this. little. fellow!!