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Last weekend we made our first trek of the summer down to the Toledo Zoo. It was a grand caravan- Nana, Mama, and (2) tykes, Grammy and Grandpapa- meeting up with Mark, Sam, (2) more tykes, and later Papa. We started off at the polar bears and seals. Alexander was more than overwhelmed at the crowds and activity. (Aidan was quite underwhelmed, asleep in his stroller.) After a revival lunch, some bald eagles and meeting up with Mills, Alexander was rejuvinated and maybe even excited about the whole 'animal' thing. We parused by Elephants, penguins, a sleeping tiger (see pic of sleeping Aidan with sleeping tiger.) some rhinos showing off their elegant bums, birds, bears, and finally the MONKEYS! With each animal, Alexander blessed various members of the crew to push him in the stroller or hold him up high above the fray of holiday visitors for the best view. Aidan took turns sleeping in the snugli or the stroller pushed by Nana or Grammy. Mama bounced between friends and family, camera and tykes and Papa took rotations with Grandpapa in carrying Alex from beast to beast. But it was the Monkeys that Alexander requested over and over until we finally arrived. He was delighted to see a baby monkey riding with his (presumably) mama and 'holding on tight' as she swung from branch to branch. Alexander held Zoobot, his little stuffed monkey, high in his arms with Grandpapa as he introduced him to his monkey 'friends.' Later we watched the gorillas up close behind glass too. It was a fun day, one Alexander had been anticipating all winter long. He loves to look at his zoo map where we circled all the animals that we visited, and he and Nana made their own zoo picture (see upper right corner) complete with stickers and Alex drawn foods of various kinds in each animal's cage. We bought a season pass, so I'm sure we'll be doing plenty more visits this summer, and maybe we'll get through all the animals by the end of the season. Stay tuned for more updates or see more pictures posted on flickr!