The zoo!

Kate & I went to the zoo today and had a fantastic time! Sadly, I did not bring the camera. But we had a blast. We got there before 10 am, which apparently is the time to get there if you want to see the animals in action (well, except for the lions; they were just lazing about again like always). But we loved seeing the orangutans; we spent several minutes watching them outside before heading in to see them from another angle. One orangutan rolled right up to the glass as he was playing with the ball and looked at us for several minutes. It was so neat to see him so up-close! Then we feel like we hit the jackpot because the bears were also out. The bears never seem to be out! The grizzly bear went in his little pool and would pop his head up from time to time, almost like he was intentionally playing peek-a-boo with the spectators. There was this little girl around 7 or so standing next to us, and she was laughing at the bear's antics, so that made Kate laugh hysterically, too. The polar bear was fun to see, too. Funny how bears don't scare me when there's a nice, deep ravine and a rock wall between us ;)


Of course we also went on the carousel (she chose a tiger) and played on the playground for a little bit, although this time she seemed more interested in seeing the animals than playing on the playground (even though, since it was only in the high 60s, it was a much better day, temperature-wise, to play on the playground than some other days we've been there. Oh well!) Then we went to the Laurel for lunch; apparently we're considered regulars there now because when the waitress saw us, she said, "Is it Friday already?" Ha!

When I typed up my post a couple days ago detailing some of the things Kate has been saying, I forgot quite a few! So here are some more Kate-isms:

• She doesn't quite have the concept of "don't"/"not"/etc. So if she wants to make some things negative, she'll just shake her head as she's saying her piece. For example, if she's talking about Gaston, who is bad, and she wants to convey the fact that she doesn't like him, she'll say, "Like him" as she's shaking her head. Or lately, if I can't understand what she's saying, I'll smile and say "Honey, I don't know what you're talking about." So if she's trying to say something, I'll try to guess what she means, but if after a few tries I get it wrong, she'll shake her head and say "Talk about!" It's so cute!
• Any mention of snakes is immediately followed by an "Ewww!!" and a big smile (which seems kind of contradictory). Anything that could be considered ambiguous (like butterflies, caterpillars, bees) but she actually does like is followed by a "Not ew."
• Sesame Street is really the only TV show we watch on a regular basis. Elmo (Kate's favorite character) has a goldfish, Dorothy. He'll always ask the kids, "Dorothy wants to know, how do you get dressed/brush your teeth/etc." Then the kids will say, "This is how I brush my teeth, Dorothy," or whatever. Lately out of the blue, Kate will say something and follow it up with Dorothy (except it sounds like Dort-ee.) The other day, she was saying, "I hungry too, Dort-ee!" or "I have shoes too, Dort-ee!" It is so funny to me what she picks up!
• I always say "Hi, sweetie!" so now she says that to me (except sweetie sounds like fwee-tee.) She'll run up to me and say, "Hi, fwee-tee!" Silly girl.
• Whenever she hears a phone ring, she'll put her hand up to her ear and say, "Hello? Oh, hi." Ready for the teen years already, I see (except I guess most teens today just text, unlike in my day...).
• Last night, after Rori's recital, we were cuddling in bed as we turned in for the night and she threw her arms around me and said, "I love you!" I said, "I love you, too!" and she squeezed me tighter and said, "very much." I can honestly say that was one of the highlights of my life, as simple a moment as it seems.