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Z is for Zoo...

In between finishing up our patio last week we took a family trip to the Southwick Zoo.  It's supposed to be New England's largest zoo but I'd put it on the list of smaller zoos.  You can easily see everything in just a couple of hours which makes it the perfect size for little guys with little legs.

It was a hot day, of course (because it's ALWAYS hot at the zoo) but the zoo is pretty well shaded so it wasn't too bad.  LP insisted on walking "all by myself" the entire time so although we'd taken our stroller along with us we used it mostly for carrying our bag of snacks, camera, etc. 

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One of LP's favorite parts was feeding the goats.  Last year he wanted nothing to do with it so it was fun to watch him this year.  At home when he gives snacks to the dogs he throws the treat on the floor so that the dogs don't nip his fingers, and he employed the same technique with the goats no matter how many times we showed him to just put the treat on his outstretched palm. 

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The dark brown goat in the photo above was expecting baby goats and had figured out that if she stood close to the little machines where food was dispensed she could shove peoples' hands out of the way and grab the food as it came out of the dispenser.

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The zoo has a couple giraffes, lions, tigers, and rhinos and that's about it for "large" animals so we made sure to see them all.

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Hey look!  Mommy was there too!  I asked Paul to take this photo to prove it.  Unfortunately, LP and I were both sweaty and gross at this point so it's not very flattering but oh well. 

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The rhino was definitely one of LP's favorite animals.  This guy was HUGE and was chowing down on his lunch when we saw him.  He made quite an impression on LP who told us "wino big like Mommy!"  Um, yeah.  Thanks.

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And this is my most favorite photo from the day.  I can't believe I got both of them smiling at the same time.  LOVE it!

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After the zoo we came home to do a little pants-free work on the patio.

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And then we hung out on our patio chairs. 

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It was a great day.  As LP gets older it's so much fun taking him places.  We were talking about the zoo last night at dinner, asking him about his favorite animals and what he had seen and we were so surprised at how much he remembered!  We asked how many tigers there were and LP said "two!  One white one sleepin' and one yellow one runnin'"  We were also informed that the giraffes were "taller than Daddy," the giant tortoise "had his foot in his food!" and that the peacocks were "very very noisy."


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