Daddy's Day Off

One thing we love about Daddy's job is all the holidays he gets off. He can't choose when to take vacations in his line of work- since we get 2 months in the summer, and then several weeks throughout the school year (Christmas, Winter Break, Spring Break, not to mention all the Jewish holidays etc etc). Good Friday is one of his days off. So we headed over to the Bronx Zoo. We are "members" and can get in anytime we want and have access to all the special exhibits there, like the Gorilla Forest, the Children's Zoo, the Butterfly Garden and we can also ride on the Bengali Express, the tram, the sky ride and the Bug Carousel at no extra charge. So imagine how bummed we were that half of these attractions were opening THE NEXT DAY. Seems they had been closed for the winter season. Bummer. We did get to see a tiger feeding, though. Lexi was pretty scared at first. I don't know if she thought the tiger was going to come out and stroll among the zoo guests, but once she realized the tiger would remain in her cage, she was enthralled. The tiger shares her name: Alexis.

Let me just say here, too, how Alexis does not stop. She's like the energizer bunny. She keeps going and going and going. We took the train to the zoo, which I have never done before. We accidentally got off 2 stops later than we needed to and as a result ended up walking at least a half mile just to get to the entrance. Then we walked through the whole zoo a couple of times backtracking and using the same paths as we discovered exhibits were closed, and being diverted around construction. Then we spent time in the Children's Zoo where she energetically participated in every exhibit she could- her favorite being able to run up to the top of a tree house to then slide down a slide (inside the tree) over and over and over. And over. And over again. Then back across the whole zoo. Skipping and jumping. And running. The Whole. Way. Phew! We were exhausted just watching her.

It was a bit cold and windy, but we had a fun day.

Arctic Birds


Butterfly in the Butterfly Garden (a greenhouse where you are surrounded by real, live butterflies)


On the Bug Carousel:


My two little birdies:


Spread your wings and fly!


Sliding inside the tree:


A Prairie Dog watching me quite closely:


Snacks for Alexis the Tiger:


Have you ever heard a swan trumpet?: