Petting zoo (the zoo within the zoo)

Going to the zoo on a Tuesday morning in January was a chilly idea, but an excellent one overall. We were shocked—shocked, I tell you!—to find the parking lot mostly empty when we arrived. I don't think I've ever been to such an empty zoo (except, perhaps, for the zoo in Cairo). So finding parking was easy!

We got a free pass for four from the library, and then Grandpa also got a pass for four, so this outing was much cheaper than expected (which was nice), and we almost had the place to ourselves! We took the zoo "backwards," as Andrew described it, which I think simply means that we took the available loop counter clockwise. This put us at the petting zoo first thing (after the flamingos), which was very exciting, at least for Rachel, Benjamin, Phoebe, and Alexander (and Prima), who were al excited about getting to pet the animals. Miriam and Zoë were a little less excited about the animals.

These were some of the best behaved goats I've ever seen in my life! 

In "the yellow room" at my Grandma Conrad's house, there was a picture of my cousin Jenna hanging above the bed. She's at a petting zoo, perhaps at the San Diego Zoo, and the goat she's "petting" (or trying to get away from) has a mouthful of her sweater. There's an accompanying family video of all the cousins Jenna's age (my older sisters, basically) at the same petting zoo (or a different one...how would I know??) and those goats are simply unruly—munching on everything and running around!

For years I honestly thought the picture was of me (and I was a little upset when my mom finally managed to convince me that it wasn't me because to my little mind it looked just like me). 

Anyway, many petting zoos that I've actually been to have been somewhat similar, with either greedy and overeager, or skittish and shy animals. The animals in this petting zoo, however, were so calm and were more eager to get a good rubdown than anything (though they did warn Andrew to put his map away because they've been known to steal and eat those)!

Here's a few pictures with Amanda and her kiddos:

Speaking of kiddos, when I shared this video on our family chat, Uncle Patrick replied, "You got another kid?!"

Anyway, here are a few pictures with the big fluffy sheep:

And a medium-sized goat (who literally spent its whole time at this trough):

 

Phoebe was in her element!

She was marching around getting acquainted with every single animal in the place. 

This big ol' goat had planted itself in a pile of hay, and even though his size was a little intimidating, Phoebe was determined to give him some affection. As she approached him, she accidentally stepped on his leg that was poking out. The goat shifted its leg a little, but hardly even seemed miffed. 

"Sorry, doat!" she sang sweetly. "Mean to!"

That's her go-to apology: "Sorry, mean to!" which, of course, means "Sorry, I didn't mean to!"

Benjamin and Rachel were really giving off farmer aesthetic:

Here's Miriam (who was uninterested in touching any goats) with a goat:

Here's Benjamin and Rachel together:

And here's Alexander saying some final goodbyes to this sweet little goat before we headed off to see some more...exotic creatures.