Zoo

Today was our first family trip to the National zoo. We've been to the Memphis zoo, and Jake has been to the National zoo with my folks, but this was our first trip together. Here's Ali and the kids (while I'm double parked on Connecticut Ave. to drop them off and cars are honking at me as I'm taking this picture):


We did the Asia trail, the elephant yard, the small mammal house, and a few other odds and ends (golden tamarins). Jake, like the other toddlers I saw, was much more interested in the bronze statues of the animals, which were just as active, and much more accessible than most of the actual animals. Sadie, as usual, was focussed on her beauty sleep.

Around lunchtime, we started to look for a picnic area to eat the sandwiches we'd brought. It wasn't unbearably hot, but it was very sunny, and we were hoping to find a shady spot to sit. The National zoo is in the middle of Rock Creek Park, which is a woodsy park full of old-growth trees. Funny, that the Zoo management decided to place all of their picnic tables in the few clearings that offer no shade whatsoever. And to add insult to injury, they set up little stands around the picnic areas that advertise refreshing, fresh squeezed lemonade, but weren't open for business at 11:45 when we stopped by. We weren't the only monkeys trying to escape the mid-day sun. Here's an orangutan with a paper bag over his head. In fact, all three of the orangutans in the yard had these bags on their head. Maybe they should plant a shade tree?


And for all the zoologists out there who are upset that I referred to this orangutan as a monkey: To me, monkeys and apes and orangutans are God's version of GM car models. Am I really supposed to notice the differences between a Buick and a Pontiac model of the same car?