Actually, that’s not entirely true. He never really overheated, but he was quite emphatic that he get to go up there and meet them right away. I don’t think he fully grasped the idea of waiting in line.
Each of these pictures catches Sawyer in the process of trying to convince me to go with him. You can see how much it means to him, can’t you?
My favorite:
You are hysterical, Sawyer. You never give up, do you?
You might think he was worn out after meeting Plex, Muno, and Foofa, but no, he was every bit as full of energy. Here he goes running away from me to play in the grass:
Last Friday afternoon, I saw that there was going to be a Yo Gabba Gabba promotion at the zoo this past weekend. It’s easily in his top three favorite shows to watch, depending on the day of course, sliding in before or after of Dora the Explorer and Team Umizoomi. It was an absolute must-see.
To sweeten the pot, I took Sawyer to the carwash first. Last weekend a bird decorated our car, leading Sawyer to demand that Abby find another bird to come clean it up. If only it were that easy, kid. He really likes the carwash.
The zoo doesn’t open until 10am, but members were able to get in line at 9:30. The line was already long by then and was quickly growing by the second. I felt so bad for the people that waited in line to get into the zoo only to find an equally long line inside to see the characters.
Our original place in line was right by this photo booth:
He was in and out of that photo booth for a good 20 minutes until a bunch of older kids saw him and decided to join. I don’t think anything was “on” inside, but there were a bunch of buttons on the console that he might have been playing with. Who knows, maybe there was something on the screen. Seeing the picture again sure makes me wonder what he’s thinking!
Sawyer spent most of the rest of the time playing in and around the fountain. When he wasn’t racing his ambulance on the edge, he was busy dunking his hands in the water. He was soaking wet when he came back to me. See the little peek-a-boo-Brobee? He left just before we got to the front of the line. Watch:
I must have heard and answered the question, “can we go up there?” at least a thousand times. We waited almost an hour for our big moment with Plex, Muno, and Foofa, but it was well worth it. That said, I think Sawyer was a little disappointed by it all. The first thing he said to Abby when we got home was, “they didn’t talk to me.” It’s true, they just stood there and waved to him.
Sawyer and I walked around the zoo for a bit after that, and were fortunate to meet Floyd, one of the new penguin chicks who just joined the colony last week. He’s just 12 weeks old. Watch:
I have a few more pictures of our zoo trip to upload tomorrow. Sawyer got to see a rhinoceros!
Believe it or not, we still haven’t left the zoo. Recall that the day began on Little Puffer, moved on to the Easter egg hunt, and then continued with two spins around the antique merry-go-round.
It’s difficult to get a good action photo on my phone, but a few turned out well enough to share:
Yes, he’s riding a cat:
He’s also endlessly curious:
And very happy with his time on the merry-go-round:
After a quick lunch, the three of us walked out to visit the family farm when he saw this:
And then he said, “Circle, rectangle, square!” I still can’t believe he noticed it, for one, and then pulled it all together.
On top of that, the day is only half done! I still have a post to do about our trip to the beach later that night.
Sawyer was parched from his ride on Little Puffer. He asked for his juice, and then wandered around the dandelions. I love this picture:
Abby and I managed to convince Sawyer to head over to the Easter egg hunt. That’s no small feat, he had to make it through the playground and swings to get there:
His ever-present tongue:
It was an absolute madhouse at the site of the Easter egg hunt, but I managed to get Sawyer around a logjam and into a wide open space full of eggs. He quickly figured out the game:
There was supposed to be a limit on the number of eggs per child, but Abby and I saw some kids with 20 or more. Luckily Sawyer reached a reasonable limit, one governed by the number of eggs he could hold in two hands:
Abby showed him the wonders of carrying his five eggs in one bag:
Seriously crowded:
Sawyer was quite happy with himself, which made Abby pretty happy too:
Next, Abby helped crack the eggs to show Sawyer the prizes inside:
He was a little confused at first:
Ohhh, I see:
And thus began the cycle of taking his eggs out:
Only to put them right back in, one-by-one. And no, he never stopped looking for more eggs:
Judging by how much he enjoyed this one, it’s a good thing that Abby has another egg hunt planned for the playgroup on Friday!
Last Saturday morning, the Golden Gate Mothers Group held their annual Easter Egg Hunt at the zoo. By now, everyone ought to know that no visit to the zoo is complete without a ride on Little Puffer. It’s a Sawyer Truitt favorite.
Along the way to Little Fuffer, as he called it, he saw a giraffe:
And Sparkles the penguin:
Sparkles really likes people.
Sawyer and I were fortunate to be first in line for the first train ride, so I grabbed the first seat behind the engine (for future reference, opt for a car or two back, otherwise be ready for the whistle to spray water in your face). Here we are waiting for the ride to start:
I’d say he’s pretty excited about this:
Here’s the view from Abby’s perspective:
Two of the many peacocks that roam the zoo grounds can be seen in this video, one at the beginning and one at the end. Here’s why: the conductor throws them treats as Little Puffer passes by:
Here’s the view from LP:
Abby took this picture of me and Sawyer while I was taking video of her:
He’s so serious:
Abby somehow managed to get a video and a picture of us at the same moment in time:
Bing, bing, bing!
Finally, Little Puffer comes to a stop:
Next, it’s off to the Easter Egg hunt!
Sawyer and I went to the zoo last Sunday to give Abby a little bit of a break. There’s really only one way to wear him down and that’s to give him plenty of room to run. The zoo is the perfect place for him.
We were early so apparently most of the animals were still asleep. Fortunately, Sawyer found something else to play with:
Apparently he’s never seen one in the wild. He must have spent a good five minutes talking to, hugging, and even kissing that fire hydrant. I don’t know that he realized the connection to a fire engine, otherwise known as a “wee-ohh, wee-ohh, wee-ohh,” but he sure did enjoy it.
The only way I could break the fire hydrant’s trance was to tell him that he could see Horton next. I made it almost all of the way to the elephant exhibit when Little Puffer toot-tooted. Sawyer immediately stopped, turned, and took off running for the train. He knew exactly where to go.
He’s clearly annoyed that I’m preventing him from watching the engine huff and puff:
Once on the move, he can barely contain his excitement, especially in the tunnel:
Here’s the tail end of the ride. He’s getting much better at saying goodbye instead of screaming to go again:
He and I finally made it to the elephant house, but none were out. Lame. Sawyer couldn’t have cared less, he played with the baby elephant sculpture for just as long as the fire hydrant:
After that he chased a peacock, saw some monkeys, baboons, giraffes, zebras (he loves those), and an airplane. Once to the car I reviewed this list with him and he agreed that he saw all of those things. I was thrilled. I then asked him if he saw a cow today and he said yes. He did not and that made me sad.
Thanks for going to the zoo with me, Sawyer. I hope we have another nice weekend so you and I can go back to ride Little Puffer again. I love it almost as much as you.
Here’s a handful of somewhat random pictures from my phone from last weekend at the zoo. They pretty much encompass the entire time he was sick with a fever, or what we now know was Roseola.
On the merry-go-round (and generally feeling pretty good about it):
On Little Puffer (and not too happy about it):
And the morning after with the world’s best bedhead:
Thankfully he’s doing much better now, just in time for my parents to visit next week!
At the zoo we visited the merry-go-round, the visiting Fisher-Price toy tent, the Little Puffer train, and the penguins. Of all of these things, he found this to be the most entertaining.
Sawyer loves the merry-go-round. He is slightly impatient while waiting for the bell to ring, and the ride to start. This merry-go-round was build in 1921, and it still looks great.
This morning, Sawyer and I bundled up for a quick trip to the zoo. It was a cool 65° when we left our house, and only 58° at the zoo, which is typical due to its location right off of the ocean. Sawyer yawned the entire way over, and truthfully would have been happier taking a long nap in bed, but this was our best chance to do it. I’m glad we went.
He saw this sculpture on the way to the Family Farm. It was a struggle to reach the top of Mt. Turtle:
But he was bound and determined:
And oh so happy at the top:
There’s really only one attraction inside the Family Farm (and no, I don’t think he likes the goats at all):
We made our way back to the meerkats, who were finally out and about:
Sawyer was mesmerized. He stood there motionless for several minutes (they seemed to like him too):
I was able to grab some quick video of them while Sawyer ran around the tunnels with some other kids:
He was adamant that we take a ride on the merry-go-round, and even though his previous experience was thoroughly unpleasant, it was a long time ago so I relented. He loved it:
He insisted that we go around a second time, and even that wasn’t enough:
The pictures didn’t turn out as well as the video, just look at his smile:
That was the best four dollars I’ve ever spent!