I’ve been jonesing for a chance to take Camille to the zoo, especially since she seems to love animals as much as I do. We enjoy our neighborhood Oatland Island Wildlife Education Center, which has wolves, buffalo, a farm, and a few other fun creatures, but I really wanted Camille to experience a larger zoo.
So when we visited Erin and Dave and Jones in Miami, we decided a trip to the Miami Metro Zoo was in order. We’d barely made it through the front gates before Camille spotted these animal statues, and she was happy enough just playing with the rhino. Little did she know she’d see one later that day!
In addition to the wildlife, we even managed a celebrity sighting. Reese Witherspoon and kids were renting a bike to ride in the zoo. We tried not to stare.
Camille saw so many of the animals she’s read about and learned about, and was quick to hop on top of this statue outside the elephant exhibit and show us her trunk.
But the highlight was at the end of the trip when we finally made it to the giraffe area. We knew we were pushing our luck because it was WAAAY past naptime, but they let you feed the giraffes and I couldn’t resist.
I really thought Camille might be a little timid, because she can be shy sometimes around new animals like a strange dog or the loudly honking goose at Oatland. But as we approached the giraffe with our “salad” (kale, I think), she didn’t hesitate to stick out her arm and offer the snack. We may have a future zookeeper in the making.
By the time we were leaving, she was exhausted. We made a quick pit stop by the restrooms, and she spotted some ornamental monkey grass near the sidewalk. Sinking into it she said, “I’m going to sit in the jungle.”
There were so many fun pics and even better video, so I had to put them together in this zoo clip. I think she’s going to have fun watching this tomorrow when she wakes up! Me too!