Zoo!

At one point during our trip to Vegas, Jackson revealed that (a) he had learned the sign for "zoo" without having previously let on, and (b) he would like to go to the zoo again, please and thank you. So today, the little boy got his zoo, and mama's happy because this was the third and final trip necessary for the membership fee to not be a waste. Whoohoo!

We had a great time. Jackson wore his best lion shirt for the occasion, and even though the lions themselves were unavailable, the zebras, various monkeys, various apes, the giraffes and the birds were all awesome.

This silverback gorilla was having a breakfast of yesterday's stale zoo popcorn and yummy greens.

There's a lady chimpanzee in a hammock in the back of this picture. Shortly after this was taken a gentleman chimpanzee came to visit her for an efficient tête-à-tête, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.

We had lunch with this adult male orangutan, who had curled himself into a ball and smushed himself into the corner of his exhibit area between the viewing window and a wall. I suspect it was cool against the glass. We tried to wait the old boy out in order to experience a livelier orangutan experience, but he was better at sleeping than we were at waiting.

"Bur! Bur!" We both liked the aviary, where Jackson got to see some supercool greater flamingos (his enthusiasm about them is pictured above--I was a little worried he was going to wiggle through the bars in his excitement). The flamingos were being bossed around by a fabulously pushy scarlet ibis that was about a third their size. ("Move, bitches!" "OK, OK, but why do you always have to be so mean, red?!") We also saw a crowned crane. I decorated Jackson's room with illustrations from Gustaf Tenggren's The Lion's Paw, which features a fairly excellent bestiary, so it was awesome to see a real crowned crane and a real scarlet ibis, because we talk about those two birds all the time.

The goats, sheep and ducks were also a hit. Several of the monkey ladies had monkey babies clinging to their fur which I thought was awesome. And I didn't spend any money the entire trip, whee!