Daniel Rules the Kingdom! (His Shirt Says So!)

Daniel checks out the camels

Daniel watches a playful penguin

Fun pushing buttons!

Watching the water splash and fall in The Living Coast

Daniel pets a baby chick- it was soooo soft and so cute!

Daniel brushes a goat in the Children's Zoo...

But mostly he was interested in "sweeping" the ground!
My boy LOVES to sweep at home.

Daniel's 1st Carousel Ride!
This is his first reaction once it started...

Sweet picture!

I love Daniel's watching & thinking expression here!

More, more, more!

The weather was unseasonably warm and beautiful today (80 degrees- in April! Wow!) so we decided to head to the zoo and we even took Grandma Cheryl with us. It was a perfect day- not crowded at all, so many animals to see, beautiful weather...we just had so much fun and we got to do a LOT. We were so busy! Daniel enjoyed looking at all the animals- he kept signing more, more, more. There was a very playful penguin in The Living Coast that kept swimming up close and Daniel loved that. He also made friends with the little boy in the corner of that picture above- he kept saying "ha" (hi) and waving and he was very curious about that little boy. The splashing water in The Living Coast building startled him at first and he clung to me, but then, since it was "wawa" (water) and he was safe in my arms, he of course wanted more, so we waited and watched it come again to his delight. Daniel also had lots of fun pushing buttons and opening doors in the exhibits. After we ate lunch, we walked around Tropic World to see some monkeys and then headed to the Children's Zoo, where Daniel got to pet a baby chick a couple times- it was cute to watch him be so gentle with it (he's not so gentle with our cats at home- something we are working very hard on). Daniel also got to pet goats and brush them, too- although he was mostly interested in "sweeping" the ground with the brushes. It will be interesting to keep visiting the Children's Zoo and see how he catches on to the whole concept. Before we left, Grandma Cheryl also treated Daniel to his first Carousel ride! We picked a cute turtle to ride. Waiting for it to start was not so easy (he was pretty tired by this point anyway), but once his turtle went up and down and all around, he was pretty delighted. I loved watching him- he was so interested in the other animals going up and down and he was watching the ceiling and the designs and all the movement. At one point, he even made the more sign- I took that as a good sign. Can't wait to ride the Carousel again another time! After our very busy day, Daniel fell asleep before I was even out of the parking lot. He sure was tired. We took the long way home...more naptime that way! Thanks for joining us for such a fun & beautiful day, Grandma!