the zoo, take 2



Back in June we took Keagan to the zoo in Nashville. We figured he would "get it" and he kind of did, at least once we got there. But I don't think he really got it. We read a lot of books to him, and a lot of those books are animal books. And he is obsessed with the Lion King, and loves to name the animals as they appear. In the last 2 months or so, actually since Finley has been born, his understanding of things and ability to put 2-and-2 together has skyrocketed. He has really matured and I wanted to take him back to the zoo while his little brain was evolving so rapidly. I knew he would truly "get it" this time. One small "problem"...we have a new baby! Well, we considered taking Keagan to the St. Louis zoo (which is awesome!) but we didn't want to make the drive there and back in one day...too much for Finley (and us). And we didn't want to go back to Nashville. It was ok, but we had already been-there-done-that this year. So, we decided to try the Evansville zoo. Once we got to Evansville and ate some lunch, we told Keagan we were going to the zoo. He immediately squealed...and then started singing. We weren't sure what he was singing at first, but then we started to hear "monkey" in the song. We started recognizing other words, like "bed" and "no"...and then the melody hit us. He was singing "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" Hilarious that he would sing THAT when we told him we were going to the zoo. See what I am talking about?? He is smart!! The zoo was a bit disappointing to the adult zoo-goer, but it was perfect for Keagan...and easy to do in a few hours so it was also perfect for Finn. We had a really nice family day, albeit quite exhausting. And Keagan thoroughly enjoyed himself: he labeled the animals and demo'd their sounds all throughout the zoo, he fed giraffes, and he "played" with the otters. Watching him enjoy all of this was the best part of the whole day. He really had so much fun. Finn couldn't have been more perfect of a baby: he slept the ENTIRE time (this is rare) and allowed us to focus on Keagan. I am looking forward to taking the boys to the St. Louis zoo in the spring time, when Finn might be old enough to see the animals, too!!