The birthday trip

Nicholas' 3rd birthday was March 12, 2011. Our birthday tradition is to take him someplace and have fun for the day. We don't get him presents, except a souvenir from the place we went. This year's destination: SF Zoo. We left Abby with my mom for an Abby and Grandma day, then we went off.

I remember this place being bigger than it is. First off, he was disappointed there were no elephants. But they have this African savanna area where the giraffes and deer and things get pretty close to you. He thought that was cool. The gorillas were awesome too. They were playing. And the biggest, oldest gorilla was sitting on a rock, staring at the visitors.

The lions and tigers were all asleep. Asleep in the sun. Nicholas called them "lazy cats." I wouldn't have really called them that, but they were sleeping.

The zoo got a new hippo in January, and this thing loved to show off. He would swim from one end of the pool to the other, bring his face out of the water - all the way out - and open his mouth nice and wide so you could see everything in it. Needless to say, there was a photographer there who got some great pictures. That person was not me.

We saw the grizzly bears being fed. They released live fish into the pond and the bears were released 10 minutes later. Then the bears ran through their enclosure to the pond and started hunting for the fish. It was pretty cool.

We ate lunch there. And got cotton candy. Then we hit the playground and kid's zoo.
Jon also played on the playground. This was Nicholas' second day of potty training. He reached the top of this structure and yelled, "I have to go potty." So Jon then climbed up to get him.

We fed the goats at the zoo. They also had brushes you could use to brush the animals (which we did), and rakes and buckets the kids could use to clean up the farm (which we did not do). Then it was time to go to the store and pick his presents. He got a penguin that is almost as big as him - which he named penguin - and a little elephant that makes noise when you press it. Why, oh why, do I get him toys that make noise? That elephant sound is so obnoxious.

We finished the day going to grandma's for a small family party. He got this cupcake that he loved. There was also a gazillion balloon - which we took home with us and are still serving as fun - and a HUGE Lightening McQueen balloon that is still inflated and huge. It sleeps with him every night.

So it was a good birthday. We had fun, and so did he.