pbs at the zoo

today was pbs kids day at the zoo and i think madelyn was a fan. we woke daddy up early to brave the zoo crowds on a saturday. madelyn has been so very excited to go to the zoo with daddy this weekend. she has actually been asking to go to the zoo for two weeks now, but it just hasn't worked out. when i heard about pbs kids day i knew we had a winner.

madelyn was really excited about seeing george, clifford, elmo, and cookie monster. surprisingly i think that she was most excited about clifford the big red dog. i don't think that she has ever seen the show, but we have read a few books from the library. madelyn was really excited about all the characters, but did an excellent job of waiting her turn to say hi and take pictures. here are the best ones with each one:

on top of meeting the characters, she got sheets of stickers for other shows including her current favorite - word world. daddy was impressed at her ability to name all of the characters on the sheet. it was a big deal for madelyn to have daddy at the zoo with her. not just because she loves her daddy - a lot - but because i tell her that she can do things the next time daddy comes with us as a way of avoiding things when we are out. for instance at the zoo when she asks to ride the train, i tell her that we should wait and do it with daddy. she always agrees that it is a good idea to wait so that daddy can go too. so it was no surprise that she said, "yea, ride the train with daddy!" when i told her that we were going to the zoo with daddy today. her memory is always impressive. it has been over a month since we were at the zoo talking about riding the train the next time daddy was with us.

during the summer there is a lot more going on at the zoo. there are all sorts of information desks set up at the exhibits. when we went to see the big cats they had a huge lion skin. i wasn't sure what madelyn would think of it, but asked her if she wanted to feel the lion's fur. there was no hesitation in petting the fur, but she said that she wanted the lion to wake up. thankfully she accepted that the lion could not wake up. then she wanted to pet the real lions in the exhibit.

as we were walking around shortly before leaving, madelyn was riding on daddy's shoulders. she then laid her head on top of his and started snoring. she would sit up and say that she was tired and sleeping. she would make the snoring sound for a little bit before sitting up to tell us that she was snoring because she was sleeping. i would have taken video but it was too loud out and she was too quiet to hear her well.

this is something she has been doing a lot of lately, telling us what she is doing. the funniest is when she cries and then stops to say "maddie's crying" or "i crying". today there was a little boy crying at the zoo and madelyn started to fake cry before telling us "maddie's crying too".

we had a great morning at the zoo and tonight matt and i are going on our last date night before baby boy comes.

and i have to add a special "happy 2nd birthday" to madelyn's cousin, annabell, who had her birthday party today. due to my poor counting skills her present didn't get there in time for the party, but grandma and big pop are going to give it to her tomorrow at church. at least it is way early for her actual birthday on the 29th! love.