Are we looking at them or are they looking as us?

We spent a warm sunshine-filled day at the zoo this weekend, in what was a belated birthday treat for Vanessa. Since she doesn't do well in a party-type situation and does not eat cake, we decided that a zoo visit would be more appropriate for her. We were supposed to visit several weeks ago, but due to the weeks of rain we were experiencing at the time, an outdoor outing was a call for disaster. It was nearly 70 degrees today and not too crowded – both factors which make for a good Family Fun Day.

If I haven’t explained before, our FFD (Family Fun Days) are outings that we take as a family to do something fun. Our goal is to just spend time as a family; our outtings don't have to be elaborate or expensive. We’ve had a picnic in the park, visited the Aquarium, went on a bike ride, and explored the Children’s Discovery Museum, just to name a few. Usually, it is just us four, but for this special outing, we decided to include the grandparents who I think were happy to join in the fun.

Vanessa is a HUGE lover of animals. She has learned the ASL sign for every animal we saw today, as well as the sounds that many of them make. Her therapist often will use toy animals when working with her in a speech session, as she’ll respond to them when interacting with animals. She loves to watch them, whether they are eating, playing or are just laying there asleep. I am not sure what her attraction or fascination is with animals, but animals in all form keep her interest – zoo animals, farm animals and water animals (yes, they are not “animals”, but you understand). When I asked Vanessa what she wanted to see at the zoo, she replied, in both verbal and ASL, “whale” and “roo” (as in Kangaroo). Obviously, she wasn’t going to see a whale and unfortunately, the kangaroo exhibit was closed. By the end of the day, I don’t think she actually realized that we didn’t see either of these, as she was just so excited to be there.

And what zoo visit would be complete without a train ride?
And an ice cream treat?
And a Merry O’Round (as Katelyn says it) ride?
Needless to say, it was a pretty quiet ride home.