The Little Girl Who Couldn't Remember the Zoo

Kids' short-term memories make me sad.  Our children frequently forget some of our best trips and family experiences.

A few months back, Millie claimed she'd never been to the zoo before.  Both Stephen and I guffawed as we quickly told her yes she had.  We had a Happy Hollow membership one year, two annual San Francisco Zoo passes, and of course a handful of visits to the Oakland Zoo, for heaven's sake!  How could she not remember that? 

Oh, wait, that was the boys who went to Happy Hollow . . .  And that was the year I was pregnant with her that we first had our SF membership . . .  Now that I think about it, she was a baby the second year . . .  Okay, okay, maybe she had never been to the zoo, although I could swear I'd seen a picture of her there.

Aha!  Digging through the archives, I found a shot of toddler-age Millie at the SF Zoo.  "June 2012" the photo said.  Yeah, I guess that is long enough for a kid to completely forget about it.

Oh man, I miss those curls!

Kids change a lot in almost two years

Did I say kids change?  I take that back.  Once a goofball, always a goofball.

Mr. Serious

Always a sucker for the hippos

Flash forward to today: Eli's fieldtrip, with all the other first graders, to Oakland Zoo.  We decided to tag along for the fun and Millie's "first" zoo trip.  Needless to say, she loved it, even if today did end up being another scorcher.

My very own souvenir penny!!

Joining up with Eli and the giraffes

Millie did not want to leave this view

Or this one

Right when all the heat and walking were taking their toll...

we stumbled upon the goats.  Phew!

 

Double phew for the goat shower

which someone thoroughly enjoyed.

Maybe a little too thoroughly.