I wanted to do something outside this morning with Katherine.  According to the weather reports, we are going to get quite a bit of rain for the next week or so.  Plus, since she’s still recovering from a stomach bug, I wanted to keep her away from play areas and exposure to other children.  We went to the Columbus Zoo for a couple of hours.  Here are the highlights of our quick trip.

1. Getting to the zoo early pays off.

We arrived just a few minutes after the zoo opened at 9 a.m.  Not only did we get rock star parking, but we had a head start on the hundreds of kids who later came on their school field trips.

2. Pack an extra outfit.

As I mentioned, Katherine is recovering from a stomach bug.  I found out once we arrived that she needed a change of clothes.  Thankfully, the zoo gift shop carries clothes in toddler sizes, so we did not have to go home and make it an even shorter trip.  It was a good reminder to have an extra outfit with us on our outings, even if it just stays in the car.

3. Keep the camera handy.

I got some great video of timber wolves, a brown bear, and the manatees.  Because I did not have the video camera handy at all times, I missed most of a confrontation between the adult male lion and two of the lionesses.  We had just viewed the lions and walked down the ramp when we heard quite a commotion – extremely loud roaring and growling.  We quickly returned to see what was going on, and they finished most of their quarrel while I was fishing my iPhone out of my pocket, turning it on and getting the camera app going.  I caught the tail end of their confrontation, and once I get my short video uploaded to smugmug, I’ll post a link.

I only took a couple of pictures at the zoo.  I was focused more on getting video.

Slightly blurry photo of the fish in the aquarium

Katherine gets excited to see the fish in the aquariums at Jack’s and PetSmart.  Imagine how intrigued she was with the large fish in the aquarium at the zoo.

Timberwolf roaming in the sunshine

Katherine at Whetstone Park

One of the things I like about this photograph is that the hazy weather almost makes the background look fake, like one of those pull-down screens at the portrait studio with the sunflowers and rugged wooden fence.  It reminds me of my parents’ trip to Paris back around 2000.  My mom wore a beautiful bright red raincoat in most of their outdoor pictures.  Between the overcast weather and the color of the streets and buildings, it looked as though she had been green-screened into someone else’s Paris photographs.

Will she follow in the footsteps of her talented cousins?

In addition to swimming, we hope that Katherine will enjoy playing other sports when she gets bigger.  Her cousins both play soccer competitively – perhaps she’ll do so as well.  Of course, she will first have to learn that the soccer ball is for kicking, not teething.