Going to the Zoo

The other weekend we went to Seattle with some friends. While we were there we visited the Point Defiance Zoo. Have I mentioned before how much Buddy loves sea life? He's been really into whales and sharks and fish now for a good year, and he fell in awe even more after we went to Sea World last September. In fact, just this morning he reminded me that when he "gets bigger," he wants to be a "worker guy" at Sea World.

Anyway, this zoo is really cool. It overlooks the sound, which is just beautiful, plus the zoo also has sea animals, like beluga whales, walruses, otters, and an entire area with all kinds of seahorses. I had no idea seahorses were so beautiful and fragile. The beluga whale was cool too. It was really friendly and actually, was a lot cuter than the picture I have above. It was amazing to see how big it was, and if you rubbed the glass in a circular motion, it would swim up to you and slide right by along the glass. Buddy loved this. We all were impressed actually.

The following week, Buddy had a friend over to play. Buddy found the map to the zoo and the ticket stubs lying around still, so they decided to dress up like sword-wielding pirates and play "going to the zoo." Each room in the house was a specific zoo exhibit and they used the map to determine where to go next. They carried their swords, tickets and map around and around the house (stopping every so often for a sword fight) for six hours -- all day. It's one of my favorite things about Buddy -- his vivid imagination and creativity. Both of which, I have none.

I had been cleaning and doing some cooking all day, so late in the afternoon, I decided to hop in the shower. I told the boys to keep playing out in the living room, but right as I turned the shower on and hopped in, I heard Buddy yell, "The beluga whale is in the tank! Let's go see!!!!" A few seconds later, they both were in the bathroom with me and Buddy was showing his friend that if you rub the glass shower door, the beluga whale would swim right by. No amount of begging would get them to leave me alone. I mean, until then, this whole "going to the zoo" game had just been pretend.

Thank goodness they're only three and will hopefully forget what a mommy beluga whale looks like.