It’s a zoo in here!

Upon learning the forecast for Father’s Day was quite favorable, we decided to make the 1.5-hour jaunt north to visit the Cincinnati Zoo, Baby B’s first time there. The day turned out to be perfect: a little on the hot side maybe, but plenty of sunshine and no humidity. After a delay at the admission gate due to computer problems, we got parked, put on sunscreen, and headed to the entrance of the zoo shortly before 11 a.m. We had a feeling that Baby B would like the zoo because of how much she seems to like nearly every animal she encounters, but we had no idea just how much she’d love it.

I’d say her favorite animals during the day were the elephants (who doesn’t love the elephants?!), the polar bear, a snake that was very active, and pretty much any bird (including those that weren’t on display!). At nearly every exhibit, she would wave hi to the animals, and then as we’d turn to leave, she’d wave and say “bye-bye” on her own, without us prompting her. Adorable. I’d say her absolute favorite animal was the Sumatran rhino, who was just fresh from a big mud pit and was pacing back and forth. She liked him enough that he was on the receiving end of some air-blown kisses from Baby B!

We stopped for a lunch break and somehow managed to find enough for Baby B to eat in spite of her picky tastes and the selection of mostly junk foods at the zoo cafe. After that, we visited a few more animals and then departed around 3:30 p.m., stopping for some ice cream on the way home to help cool us down.

I think what amazed me most wasn’t that Baby B was so entertained by all the animals, but that she was able to spot them almost immediately — generally before we were able to ourselves! She really has a good eye for that sort of thing.

I do wish I’d been able to take more pictures, but one of us had to hold Baby B so she could see the exhibits while the other had to take care of the stroller and diaper bag. Oh well, the important thing was that we all had a very nice time, and it was mission accomplished on that front for sure.