A Cloudy Day At The Zoo

Today I took Luke, Tommy and Luke's buddy, Isaac, to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo for Luke's preschool's zoo trip.  It was a chilly day, but there was no rain, and the zoo's location in the shadow of the mountain helped to block the wind, so it wasn't bad at all once we were bundled in our jackets.  In spite of the end-of-the-school-year-field-trip crowds and the coolness of the day, the boys were thrilled to be there and many of the animals were quite active.  I am glad I ignored the gloomy weather and took action on Luke's excited eagerness to go even with the chill.  We had a great time.  

I loved that the ducks lazily swimming in the moose pond were just as exciting as the huge playful grizzly bears to my little boy entourage.  Their joy was contagious.  I couldn't ignore the sweet feeling of my own inner child come alive.  Together we grinned like fools as we watched the siamangs swinging from tree branch to rope bridge to feeding ledge, whooping it up, as Luke said, "like the frogs do," by filling expanding air pouches in their throats.  Together we thrilled at the lioness' lightning quick pounce at some small bugs right next to the viewing glass.  Or the irrepressible laughter that comes as you watch the playful otters perform their slippery swimming acrobatics.

As it usually is, the zoo was a happy place to be.