Monkeys and Tea

We had some kind of enchanted visit to the zoo this morning. It was like someone waved a magic wand and told the animals, whatever it is that you might possibly be able to do in your cage that would be entertaining, try that out this morning. The sloth was doing laps on the ceiling. The orangutans were rolling around in a big fluffy ball, shredding a big brown paper bag. The tigers were sprinting around their cage chasing each other and leaping up on the fence to grab fish treats. The polar bear was chowing down on what looked like Snuffy food, the penguins were flapping around in a herd, jumping in and out of the water, the tortoise was ambling around his cage, the sea lions were doing synchronized swimming (seriously, swimming in circles with their flippers in the air and their heads resting on each other's tails), and one of the monkey species was having an apparent gang war. The best part was that it was bath time just as we got to the elephants. The elephant raised each leg on command to be scrubbed, then flopped down on its side to be hosed off. It knew right and left, and when one side was done it lumbered up and lay down on the other side. Aaron thought the trainer was tossing peanuts in its mouth the whole time, but it turned out to be bread (he has some sterotypes to work through).

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Dylan attended an actual tea party last weekend, with frilly dresses and tea and scones and everything. She had been wearing a dress, but it was removed an hour prior to the party when she got a new t-shirt as a present from globetrotting grandparents. Most of the pictures came out pretty blurry, but you get the idea.