The zoo
We had another great day in Brooklyn with Cass, Jim and Henry -- Monday morning we went to the zoo in Prospect Park. I didn't realize this, but Cass told me that there is a zoo in each of the 5 boroughs, which is pretty amazing. Years ago Cass and I went to the Bronx Zoo which is just astounding; I thought of the Bronx as one big blighted urban area (kind of like North Philadelphia but just closer to Manhattan), but the zoo is a fantastic green oasis in the city. The Brooklyn zoo was lovely as well (although tiny by comparison) and just the rigth speet for Henry and Devon.
We started off with the petting zoo, where the kids could feed goats and sheep and look at a cow, llamas and run through a little garden. Devon just loved this and literally squealed with delight when the goat first ate out of her hands. She was so enamored of it that I could hardly get her away from the goats and sheet -- but then we went through the garden and stumbled upon a little "tunnel" through the plants that encouraged kids to crawl through so they could "crawl like a bug." I think Devon must have gone through this at least eight times; she'd go through the tunnel (which she could stand in) and then would run back around to the beginning of it.
After the sea lions were fed (which included some tricks for fish), we went on something called "Discovery Trail," which is a section of the zoo that you can walk through and get a bit closer to animals. One section of this was a prarie dog exhibit, and the kids could run around behind it and go through little "tunnels" that popped up into plastic skylights in the prarie dog exhibit. These were sized just right for Devon, and she went into every tunnel herself (although I had to go in after her and help her out in some, since it wasn't too hard for her to climb up but it was a lot harder to climb back down).
By the time we got back to the house and had lunch, she was really tired -- and she ended up taking a 2-1/2 hr nap (which is practically unprecedented). I actually got to read the paper at home for the first time in a long time, and it was a real delight since the local paper here is the NY Times. I finally ended up waking Devon up because I didn't want her to stay up all night. Henry, Devon, Cass and I went back to the 3rd Street playground in the afternoon and spent a lot of time on the swings, going down the slide and playing in the sandbox. Then I made a bad faux pas by messing up the standard routine: Cass left early to start dinner and then I ended staying out at the playground way too late with the kids -- Jim actually came back to get us for dinner because we were dawdling. Ugh. I think they were able to recover with Henry, or at least it seemed like it to me since he did have a bath and get bundled into bed not too long after dinner. I guess next time that we're down to the last five kids in the playground, I should realize that it's a sign to come back home.
One last note that I forgot to post yesterday... at Coney Island a few of the rides had a "You must be this tall..." sign expaining that if the child wasn't at least as tall as the sign, they could only ride if they were accompanied by a "responsible person." On at least one of these rides Henry, who just turned 4, was deemed a "responsible person" to accompany Devon safely on the ride. Cass and I thougth this was quite hilarious...
We started off with the petting zoo, where the kids could feed goats and sheep and look at a cow, llamas and run through a little garden. Devon just loved this and literally squealed with delight when the goat first ate out of her hands. She was so enamored of it that I could hardly get her away from the goats and sheet -- but then we went through the garden and stumbled upon a little "tunnel" through the plants that encouraged kids to crawl through so they could "crawl like a bug." I think Devon must have gone through this at least eight times; she'd go through the tunnel (which she could stand in) and then would run back around to the beginning of it.
After the sea lions were fed (which included some tricks for fish), we went on something called "Discovery Trail," which is a section of the zoo that you can walk through and get a bit closer to animals. One section of this was a prarie dog exhibit, and the kids could run around behind it and go through little "tunnels" that popped up into plastic skylights in the prarie dog exhibit. These were sized just right for Devon, and she went into every tunnel herself (although I had to go in after her and help her out in some, since it wasn't too hard for her to climb up but it was a lot harder to climb back down).
By the time we got back to the house and had lunch, she was really tired -- and she ended up taking a 2-1/2 hr nap (which is practically unprecedented). I actually got to read the paper at home for the first time in a long time, and it was a real delight since the local paper here is the NY Times. I finally ended up waking Devon up because I didn't want her to stay up all night. Henry, Devon, Cass and I went back to the 3rd Street playground in the afternoon and spent a lot of time on the swings, going down the slide and playing in the sandbox. Then I made a bad faux pas by messing up the standard routine: Cass left early to start dinner and then I ended staying out at the playground way too late with the kids -- Jim actually came back to get us for dinner because we were dawdling. Ugh. I think they were able to recover with Henry, or at least it seemed like it to me since he did have a bath and get bundled into bed not too long after dinner. I guess next time that we're down to the last five kids in the playground, I should realize that it's a sign to come back home.
One last note that I forgot to post yesterday... at Coney Island a few of the rides had a "You must be this tall..." sign expaining that if the child wasn't at least as tall as the sign, they could only ride if they were accompanied by a "responsible person." On at least one of these rides Henry, who just turned 4, was deemed a "responsible person" to accompany Devon safely on the ride. Cass and I thougth this was quite hilarious...
posted by Devon Szalva at
6:39 PM
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