For Labor Day, we decided to go to the zoo. Mitch has never been, and he loves being outside, and Mike was home, and if anyone knows Mike- he can't sit still for more than 10 mins, unless football's on, then, of course, he'll sit so quietly and stare nicely at the computer screen watching (only) the score change for 3+ hours (we don't have tv, which is a sad depressing tale, so espn.com has become his closet friend) The zoo is not my most favorite thing- it smells bad and I have to wear tennis shoes, neither of those things do I prefer very much, but it has crocodiles to look at, and it provided a nice excuse to buy wheat thins, ha. I'm fairly easy to please.
Anyway, Mitch doesn't crawl at all anymore, and walks back and forth from his bedroom to the bathroom dropping toys in the toilet all the day long. So before the zoo, we bought him some cute little shoes (Velcro this time. with some hard heels perfect for frolicking) He hasn't figured out how to walk in them yet, and still tries to scrap his knees on the cement.
We packed a nice lunch complete with Diet Coke, and away we went!! The zoo was packed, the line was forever long, we parked at the south entrance (did anyone know the hogle zoo had 2 entrances??) and listened to 50 or more people say "it's a zoo at the zoo!" wow. I had no idea Americans used puns so effectively. 
So, Mitch rode in leisure and pure joy in his stroller- peanut butter sandwich in hand the entire time. I got him out a few times, pointed to sleeping cheetahs and monkeys, but he was less enthusiastic than I was hopping. Except for the rhinoceroses, who were right up against the glass- two of them!! He thought that was the greatest thing ever. I'm pretty sure he would have enjoyed more of it if all the animals were up close and personal.
Mike, on the other hand, took the camera and pranced and danced all over the place. Literally running from animal to animal. Words cannot express the joy he felt at Hogle Zoo. I've never seen him more camera happy in my life. I had to keep reminding him to take pictures of Mitchell, because, well, after all, my only intention behind all of this was scrapbook related. (And that for Mike, must have translated into "Please take awkward pictures of me only" but whatever)
We were done fairly quick, and Mitch was asleep the last half. But it was a nice little stroll/sprint and now were back to the usual slow paced life I think I prefer, ha.
