If I Ran the Zoo

Today we went to the zoo. It was our first trip out for entertainment as a family, and the innauguration of our stroller beyond the boundaries of our neighborhood sidewalks.

We did pretty well, and kept our eyes open to observe how the veteran families managed this place. We took turns going to the bathroom, and I tried to pick up tips as to how to maneuver the stroller in the women's bathroom when I would be on my own. The diaper changing station, I noted, flipped open right over one of two sinks. The bathroom was, well, a zoo in itself, on this glorious sunny Saturday. I assured myself that when I visit the zoo with just Ollie, it would be on a weekday, and we would pick a day with less-than-ideal weather, just so we could train ourselves in with a little more room to spare. In the meantime, Michael watched Ollie and the stroller while I thanked my lucky stars that a diaper change in today's trip to the zoo was not needed.

This is what Oliver thought of the zoo:

But it was a really great time for us. As we pushed our stroller in line with all of the others, we smiled: here we were. This is what we were picturing when we thought of parenthood. Trips together to the zoo. To anywhere, the three of us. I think I just learned to appreciate the weekends even more.

Oh, and by the way, technically, this was not Oliver's first trip to the zoo.