It's fair to say the last two days have been two of the most
anticipated days of 2018 for Ellie and me. After all, it's not every day that
one gets to celebrate Barbershop Quartet Day and Grilled Cheese Day
respectively. In all seriousness though, it's really too bad those two days
can't be celebrated on the same day. Can you imagine being serenaded by a
barbershop quartet whilst eating a grilled cheese sandwich? Take a moment to
appreciate the sheer wonder contained in that thought.
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| Oooh, grilled cheese. If you please. Oooh, grilled cheese. |
Ok, if you're done appreciating (and you've actually decided
to keep reading), I'll tell you the real reason for my anticipation. The truth
is that we finally have concrete evidence that Spring is coming/here/still
exists after a long, long winter. As such, my mindset for the last two days has
basically been to (1) keep the baby alive and (2) to spend as much time outside
as possible. As I step back and take stock of the last two days, I've got to
say I feel pretty good about having achieved both of those goals.
Flashback to Wednesday. Rather than keep you held in epic
suspense as I build up to whatever Ellie and I decided to do, I'm just going to
tell you. We went to the Zoo! And yes, I feel that exclamation point is justified
as I'm pretty sure it was the first time I'd taken Ellie to the Zoo since
January or February. Not only that, but it was actually a pretty special day to
visit as Dixie, the new baby giraffe, was going on exhibit for the first time.
Quick thought, it feels really weird to refer to a living thing as an exhibit.
Anyone else agree? Just me? Ok.
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| Believe it or not, Dixie is already 6 feet tall and weighs 170 pounds. So, you know, basically me. |
While Ellie's always loved the zoo, this marked the first
time I had taken her since her communication skills truly developed. For an
example, look no further than our first stop while at the zoo: the orangutan
exhibit. Ok, that's a lie; we did pass through the Polar Bear exhibit but I
chose not to count that since we couldn't actually see any evidence of a polar
bear.
Back to the orangutans. When we reached the primary viewing
area, we were lucky enough to be graced by the presence of four orangutans, one
of which was a baby. Ellie pretty quickly asked for me to not only stop her
stroller, but to let her out as well. As soon as I set her down on the ground,
Ellie's first move was to run (not walk) up to the glass where an orangutan was
waiting for her. She then began rapidly saying "Hi monkey" over and
over again. Despite the "monkey's" stark indifference, Ellie's
enthusiasm could not be squelched as she continued on. Finally, the orangutan
slowly lumbered away from the glass leaving a disappointed Ellie in its wake.
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| Ellie did actually get a (fake) orangutan to acknowledge her. That counts right? |
Of course, there were still plenty more animals for Ellie to
attempt to build a deep and lasting relationship with. Tigers (aka doggies),
penguins, lions (also doggies), rhino, giraffes, and chimpanzees (also monkeys)
were all on the agenda. However, my favorite experience for the day had to be
the cheetahs. I should say first that I consider myself to be quite the zoo
veteran at this point. After all, Ellie and I have made a significant number of
trips over the past year-plus. That being said, I had never had an experience with the cheetahs as I did on this occasion.
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| Baby and baby penguin. |
As we wandered near the cheetah enclosure, I first saw a
cheetah nervously prowling the exterior of his pen as it headed toward the
viewing area. Knowing this, I was pretty sure if I hustled, I might be able to
make it there in time for a close-up view. As I pulled Ellie's stroller into
the covered viewing area, I was shocked to see that not just one cheetah was
there, but two. Obviously, I once again removed Ellie from her stroller and set
her down to see the cheetahs.
Now, I should add that there were at least five other people
in the enclosure at this point in time. Given Ellie's seemingly perpetual fear
of strangers, I figured it was unlikely she would stray too far from me. Well,
I'm not too proud to say that I was pretty wrong about that.
Ellie promptly made a beeline for the glass and pointed at
the cheetah dramatically before finally exclaiming "Hi kitty!" Then,
as the cheetahs began to pace, Ellie began to walk the glass alongside them,
gleefully exclaiming "Hi kitty" all the while.
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| I promise there is glass there.... |
Of course, that led to awkward conversations with the others
in the viewing area about what exactly the consequences of having a pet cheetah
would be. In case you're wondering, the consensus was that most would love to
have a pet cheetah as long as they could guarantee it wouldn't kill them. Also,
in this hypothetical scenario, if the cheetah removed one's non-dominant arm,
people seemed like they would be willing to make that sacrifice provided it was
willing to snuggle and cuddle at least some before doing so.
I now realize that this simple blog post chronicling a
simple trip to the zoo has become a bit unwieldy. That's ok though because I'll
just save the chronicles of day 398 for my next blog post. Anyone object? No
one? Good. See y'all next time! #DaddyWrite
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