preschooler ava and the zoo

we went to the zoo on a whim last saturday. i love doing things on a whim. and i love the zoo. unfortunately, doing things on a whim means bringing the wrong equipment or leaving important things at home. we accidentally grabbed preschooler ava and took her to the zoo instead of the much nicer and more enjoyable toddler ava. i'm rolling my eyeballs when i tell you she was a joy.

think i'm exaggerating? see for yourself:we figured out that getting ava's cooperation required the use of a magic phrase. the phrase: "let's go see the next animal." worked almost every time, except when she suddenly decided that she loved the lion and she only wanted to see him. upon finally seeing him, she attempted to scale the gate saying, "c'mere lion, i love you." (this didn't work, he did not come)

best moment of the day? obviously this one:
this is when we were watching the giraffes come right up to us and i was marveling at their grace and size and wondering how close they were going to come and why when i thought i would take a picture. i pulled out my camera, started snapping a few shots and thought to ask ava what she thought of the giraffes coming so close. i asked her. no answer. i looked down mid-snap and saw--

my daughter underneath the giraffe fence, just an inch away from clearing it. in my best shocked mommy voice i gasped, "ava!" and she quickly climbed back over to me.

"Mom," she said loudly and with indignation, "I want to pet the GIRAFFE!" then she wept. bitterly. for a very, very long time. and then ryan had to stop me from chucking her into the giraffe cage by physically restraining me because i had just about had it.

ah, family.