Iris Goes to the Zoo Zoo Zoo

After a busy day hosting Iris's party, we decided to get away with Aunt Jackie and Patrick to Zoo in Columbia, SC. We've wanted to go since Iris was born, but it was worth the wait, given how much her awareness and attention have grown in the last several weeks..

The zoo was very impressive- the first animals we saw were, fittingly, Grizzly Bears! Iris immediately spotted them and watched intently as one paced back and forth in front of the crowd. And she continued to be amazed as we worked our way through- sea lions, elephants, tortoises, aligators, penguins... Some highlights:

We brought many of Iris's toy animals along so that she could compare against the real thing- this didn't work out so well for the giraffes who were standing so far away that they appeared to be the same height as the one she held in her hand!!

Towards the end of the day, as we were walking out of an interactive bird exhibit (which was pointless since we didn't have the food needed to actually get a bird to land on us), Iris suddenly started going nuts- Bananas, specifically, as she took heed of two wild, whirling Siamangs swinging from branch to rock in endless pursuit. Iris laughed and laughed, quieting down only for the moments they disappeared behind opposite side of their island.

And then for the last stop, we went through a barn exhibit, where Iris got to put her skills developed from her morning ritual of hand-feeding our pets to the test:


After another long day, with less food and sleep than normal, Iris slept the whole drive home and chowed down before going to bed for the night.. What a big weekend this was for our little bear!