We two went to the L.A. Zoo today, and what fun. Not that we saw very many animals. We spent a lot of time at each exhibit, though—and by exhibit, I mean bench, sewer grate, or crack in the sidewalk. That’s not to say we didn’t spend some time in the company of the animals. Almost half an hour in front of some kind of grassland antelope, more than half an hour in the chimp area—but in all of these cases, the draw was much less the animals themselves than the infrastructure and exhibit surroundings. Vibble just totally loved this place. I let her explore at her pace, following behind her with the stroller and leaving the decisions about where we would go next almost entirely to her. She was in heaven.

When she did notice an animal, Vibble would exclaim, “Doggie!” I’d say something like, “Look, Vibb, a chimp. That’s a chimp.” And she would reply, “Doggie!”

I think her favorite part of the day, judging by the width of her smiles, was when she found a little girl in a sitting area who had time on her hands because her mother was nursing her baby brother. Violet and this little girl had a squealy leaf battle that went on and on and on.

We bought a membership on our way out. Now, here are some photos