Zoo Zoo ca Choo

Pretty much every morning, and after just about every nap, Addison will tell you that she dreamed of the zoo. She'll tell you about elephants, giraffes, gibbons, lions, choo choo trains and of course gorillas.

The girl LOVES gorillas. She pounds her chest, my chest, Andy's chest imitating gorillas. Heck, she's pounded the cat's chest and will pound yours if you stop by to visit. She LOVES gorillas - and the baby gorilla? AWESOME.

Today I indulged her and we went to the zoo. We haven't been there in a few weeks, and today was the perfect overcast day to go. All the animals were awake and active. We saw the lions stretch, the rhino walk around it's habitat. We watched the manatees have lunch and saw a crocodile sun itself. But, as always, it was the gorillas she loved the most.

Looking across the moat at them chewing on leaves was probably the highlight of her day. But, like dogs, she loves them from the distance. When we tried to ride the gorilla on the merry-go-round she all but melted down. When we visited the bronze statue she wrapped herself around Genna's leg and said NO.

With a bit of coaxing, she sat with Elise on the statue - as long as Genna didn't walk away. With a bit more coaxing she touched the nose of the statue, and then oh-so quickly ran toward me.

Gorillas from afar = awesome. Gorillas up close = scary.

Yet, when Andy asked her what she did today, the first thing she did was pound her chest.

Gorilla love, it's hard to understand.