At the zoo...

The girls had an excellent trip to the Oakland zoo today. They've been to the zoo a few times, but this was the first time that they "got" what it is all about . . . the animals! One of their favorite books is "Goodnight Gorilla" where the zookeeper puts all the animals to bed in their cages. So, it was pretty exciting for them to see all the animals from the book. Their favorites were the exhibits they could get close to like the lemurs and the snakes,frogs and lizards in the reptile house.


Uh oh. Lily somehow climbed into the mountain goat exhibit. Just kidding. This was at the petting zoo. They let the kids pet the goats. And Lily and Elsa showed no fear. They also got to practice their goat noise "Maaaaaa."


Lily trying to get the goat to come down and play with her. Lily's so cute, she's always ready for action. So far, she's been the twins' social director. In the mornings, we can hear Lily trying to get Elsa to wake up and play with her. We hear "up,down . . .up,down." They've invented a hide and seek type game where they pop their heads up and down out of view. They squeal and laugh when they find each other. So funny.


By far, the other kids were the most interesting animals at the zoo. Here are Elsa and Lily braving the play area with the big kids. They are planning their attack. In case you are wondering, the dresses were my idea. I bought them in Mexico. The pants were the girls' idea. And who is going to argue with two 19-month-olds ;) You must choose your battles wisely.


What could be cooler than giant bugs? Elsa greets a friendly caterpillar.


Lily scales a giant moth like it is Mount Everest. Lily's a climber. Lately, I keep finding her on top of the endtables. She stands up no-hands like a wild woman. She's also working hard on getting over the kitchen gate.


Elsa gives the caterpillar a big hug. Elsa gives great hugs and kisses.

Both girls are very loving and sweet. But they've also been stubborn little sprites lately. They've learned the power of the word "no." (Elsa especially). They have lots of opinions which is a good thing. Sometimes, their ideas make us laugh. Other times, they wear us out!


Finally, Lily going down the tree slide. Slides are both girls' favorite playground attraction. They usually prefer to go down all by themselves. But, this was a slow slide. Lily needed daddies help to go fast.