Zoo Do

We had a great time today.

Brian worked Monday-Wednesday with some long hours, and has to work again tomorrow, but he had today off.

With a break in the typical Oregon weather, which I call "partly crappy", we decided to make a run for Portland and take our new Zoo Passes out for a spin.
We had at the top of our list of things to do last weekend (and the weekend before that) "Have fun in the sun if there's sun."

And like typical rain-soaked post-April Pacific Northwesterners, we decided to have fun, even if it was Thursday, because dammit, it's going to rain tomorrow if it doesn't do it today.
So off we went.

The last time we went to the zoo, one of the elephants was having a birthday party, and it was wall-to-wall revelers at the zoo (remember back when we had 80* weather, right before it snowed people?).

So this time, we made a beeline straight for the pachyderms, and we had a GREAT time seeing the big boys.
Nora also got to see and pet her next farm animal: The Goat.

It was cute to see her watch the kids as much as the other Kids, and she eventually petted one of several goats.
After all that time, it was definitely time for lunch. Just in the past few weeks since her last visit to the zoo, Nora was able (with the help of a little stuffing around her for support) to sit in the high chair at the table with us.

It just amazes me how one visit to the next can change how we eat! She had a great time sitting at the table, and we actually got to eat without one of us holding her and the other one scarfing their food so the other could take their turn!
And the SEA LIONS! This was probably Nora's favorite exhibit. We were in one of those "underwater" caves with the plexiglass, so she could see the sea lions swim by.

There was a raucous group of 3-5 year-olds who were SO excited to see the sea lions swim by with all their screams, the Nora herself went on Red Alert, and thoroughly enjoyed watching the big boys swim by!

I love this picture because today was also the first day Miss Nora was long enough and comfortable with sitting up on Daddy's shoulders.

And this picture looks like she's picking stuff out of his hair.

But really, she is sizing it up to see how it will taste, because ALL babies at her age think about is how to get things into their mouths, and believe me, eventually she was trying to get her Daddy's freshly cropped short hair into her mouth.

MMMM. Hair.
We made it all the way home without any crying and with lots of games of "peek-a-boo" with Daddy.

Considering she barely had a nap today -- Miss Nora just tuckered out around 6:30 p.m. tonight!

And I'm sure the dreams will be of Lions and Tigers and Bears!