Columbus, OH - day 1

The boys & I were at the zoo today. Michael wanted to nkow "do we have to share our zoo?" This one is "ours", the one in St. Paul isn't. The new exhibit it spectacular. I had no idea how absolutely huge sea otters are. The little cute things living in the lakes and rivers are just stunted little things. Wild pigs are smaller than I thought. The leopard was just as heat-prostrated as I imagined it would be.

The new exhibits for the bears, though, are stunning. We were standing at the side of the swimming pond, which was under cover and glass. Michael mut have spent a full 10 mintues standing 2 feet away from a bear, who was swimming back and forth and doing some bizarre behavior that looked like trying to tap dance on the fish at the bottom of the pond.

In the newly renovated center area, there are new sculpture of the animals recently installed and some of the long-term residents. The photos are the boys next to the baby bear sculpture. The mama bear was about 12 feet high. Michael informed me it was like the bear in Jungle Book. I wanted to know if it was going to sing "Bear Necessities", which he assured me was silly.

























oh, and today's bath was unnecessarily exciting. annoying. frustrating. disgusting. demonstrative of maternal love, since they're both still alive. Yes, this would be Micha standing in the tub & pouring water into the tub. And, yes, that would be Gregor, who has just emptied a full 2-Qt pitcher out of the tub, onto the bathroom floor.