Grace Ann's 1st Peek at the Zoo

Just when you think you know all the love is… along come the grandchildren. ~ Anonymous

While out running errands Saturday, we decided to make it a fun day and take my grand-daughter, Grace Ann to the zoo. It was not anything planned just something to do on a pretty day. Sometimes doing things on the spur of the moment makes it even more exciting. Seeing that Grace Ann makes one year old next Saturday, the 17^th, we decided to get the party started early. It’s Grace Ann’s birthday, it’s her birthday!

This was her 1^st time attending and of course she really did not have a clue of what she was looking at. I believe her mom and I were more excited than her. To keep her company we bought along our little cousin, we call her Muffin. She’s 4 and has all the energy in the world, so of course she kept us entertained which made our little zoo trip all the better.

Let me begin with it was hot out there. If I had planned the trip, I would have definitely wore shorts. I had on jeans, therefore, I felt it was a little hotter than normal for me. I am an outside person so the heat the majority of the time does not bother me. Grace Ann, on the other hand is not her Ya-Ya (my G-Ma name for her), so I doubt she will be enjoying a lot of outside activities with me. She sweats within a drop of a dime. Now, muffin on the other hand, had pulled her little stretched pants up to her knees. It was too hilarious to see.

The heat was not unbearable but it definitely made our walk pace slower than normal. Of course, it did not bother Little Miss Grace Ann, seeing that she was being pushed around like the little princess she is. It was delightful that even though she didn’t know what she was looking she was just a talking, laughing and enjoying herself. Just in her own little world.

I had not been to the zoo in a very long time, so I was excited to see all the updates the zoo had made since my last visit. There were many updates from the last time that I had been there. My daughter was our guide, reading the signs to see what animals we would be seeing first. That was fine with me, because I was just there for her and her daughter. To be there with them both was an enjoyable experience. There is nothing like spending time as a family when a new member of the family is experiencing something new for the first time in their life. The look on my daughter’s face was priceless seeing her daughter looking around and just observing the scenery.

Grace Ann was intrigued with the sounds of the animals. Every now and then she would look at us like what in the world, so even though she did not know what she was looking at least she heard the sounds that some of the animals were making. And, Muffin was mimicking them as well. I even found myself mimicking a couple of them after her. (lol) Children will definitely keep you young at heart. That’s the good thing about hanging with kids, they will definitely make you forget all of what’s going on in your personal world and make you enjoy the moment, being in the present of life.

My highlight of the trip was of course the nachos, ha! I love some good nachos and I was definitely not disappointed. They filled them up to the top and layered on the chili, cheese and of course my jalapeno peppers. I was so excited to dig into them I forgot to get a picture of them. We all enjoyed them including Grace. I just love to see that little girl chew, she only has two teeth at the bottom, but she will gum away at her food. She’s definitely not missing any meals nor junk food. If we are eating it she will definitely let us know with her little fiesta self where is mine.

After our little break and the catching of our second wind, we headed to finish our tour of the zoo. Muffin was dying to go to the kid’s part of the zoo to play in the little play area. We headed that way to let her experience the play area so that we can wrap up our visit. Muffin thoroughly enjoyed playing on the toys but also enjoyed coming back and forth for her Gatorade. She stated that, “my mama said, I have to drink Gatorade to keep me hydrated!” My daughter and I just laughed. Muffin loves herself some cold drinks, so I know her mom uses that to make sure she drinks anything but coke products the majority of the time. Hey, whatever works, right? I’m sure we will be using these tactics and plenty of others when Grace gets to that stage.

With that said, we thoroughly enjoyed our 1^st visit to the zoo with Grace Ann. I know there will plenty more visits to the zoo coming soon. I cannot wait until she is able to truly understand what she is seeing as well as mimic the sounds of the animals. I know, I’m not rushing her little time, I’m just excited to see her little facial expressions when that time comes. She’s truly a character so I can only imagine the facial expressions.

Well, that sums up our 1st time at the zoo with Grace Ann! I must say our mission was accomplished. She was fully awake when we arrived and throughout the visit but towards the end she could no longer hang, she was out like a light. Therefore, the mission was accomplished. We wore her out and in the process wore our self out as well.

Our next trip will be the Global Life Center. I’m not sure how she will take to rubbing on the pets, but we shall see. I’m just smiling right now thinking of how she will react.

Below are some pictures of our extravaganza!