zoo!
Harvey and I took a field trip today to the Stone Zoo, courtesy of the Stevens family who have a magical season pass that admits 2 extra guests. Harvey looooves animals, so we've spent the year shuttling from one farm to another. All this makes him fairly nonchalant around domestic and barnyard animals. So it was especially fun to see some stranger and more colorful animals for a change.
flamingos in bright shades of...
We also saw bears, monkeys, and wolves which look suspiciously identical to the beasts that rome free in our neighborhood calling themselves "coyotes." I asked Dan about it when he got home and he said, "Well, yeah, some people call them Eastern Wolves." and I was like "Oh shit! Those things are big and scary and could totally eat us."
But, you know, there hasn't been a wolf fatality in Bedford yet, so maybe our local ones are more shy than the ones at the zoo.
Of course, half of the excitement of the outing for Harvey was getting to see his best buddy Ollie. Here they are hugging outside of the Monkey cage.
best buds
And here's the resulting take-down from that hug.
1...2...3...
And this is what my friend Bridget would look like if she had 5 kids instead of just 4.
wait, you've got one of mine in there!
I swear, just being around her makes me feel like a lazy ass. I only have to cart around one kid all day, and sometimes it's exhausting!
After the zoo the plan was to nap in the car ride home, but Harvey and I had already decimated my supply of snacks and both he and my stomach were crying starvation. So we drove a minute into downtown Stoneham to grab a slice at a local pizza shop. The owner and patrons all thought Harvey was the cutest thing in the known universe, and they were very impressed at the way he devowered an entire large slice of pizza. Mama had one too, of course, bringing the total for today's outing to $4. Not bad for a field trip.
The only downside of the day was that the zoo excitement plus delicious pizza added up to NO NAP, which meant an entire day of non-stop standing and walking for mama and her poor pregnant feet. Oh well, these things can't be helped. When it's not a pregnant belly it'll be a baby in the front pack. Such is life, and I should enjoy the former quieter option as long as I can.