zoo babies

Last Friday, Mom, Dad, Emily, Ollie, and Archie came for a short visit. Earlier in the summer, we briefly discussed a day trip to the zoo, and we finally made good on our plans just a few days before the end of Emily's maternity leave!

We had a great time at the zoo. I mentioned to Dan later that it's the place I feel the most relaxed with Mae. The animals provide hours of entertainment, and I don't have to watch her quite as closely as I do at the playground or on the sidewalks at our house. Ollie and Mae enjoyed exploring the animal exhibits and they both got to touch a snake!

Archie had a good time, also! He loved getting a big hug from his cousin!

Lastly, a quick story: A couple weeks ago, Mae randomly announced at dinner: "I saw all-breck!" I spent the next 5 minutes trying to decipher what all-breck is (... old brick? all broke?) before Mae got frustrated and gave up on me. She repeated this phrase every couple days, with both Dan and I trying to translate toddler-speak. Finally, just a couple days before our zoo trip, Mae decided to try it again, "I saw all-breck"... and a light bulb went on in my brain. I almost shouted at her, "AARDVARK! YOU SAW AN AARDVARK!?" She was thrilled, "Yah! I saw ALL-BRECK!" Needless to say, we had to make a visit to the all-brecks on Friday. They were sleeping.