Zoos Are Pushing Boundaries

We're trying to squeeze every last drop out of summer that we can since it's winding right down into school. I am always sad to see the kiddos go back, and this year is no exception. We've got a week of church camp facing us, a week off, and then it's back to routine.

So in an effort to get more out of summer at the very end, we visited the zoo this week. Micah loves the zoo, but this one has some pitfalls that he's not fond of. These pitfalls are birds. Big birds. Roaming freely about the property, just waiting to terrorize him. Last year when we were there, it was a chore trying to keep up with Micah's whereabouts, and he was simply trying to outrun or hide from peacocks, ducks, geese, and other birds that prey on little boys.

Micah has other issues at the zoo as well. It's kind of a petting type zoo, for animals that are safe to pet. They've got llamas, goats, ponies, and other fun animals that the kids can pet over the fences. The tigers, bears, and wolves, however, are off limits. For obvious reasons. Petting the animals does not rank high on Micah's fun list either. Really, he's just there to mock the animals from afar, and he likes it that way.

But one of his favorite things to do is feed the animals. That tube the bear is eating? Genius invention. There's a wooden fence for the kids to stand behind to prevent sticking arms through the bars to pet bears. That plastic tube is fastened to the top fence rail and runs down into the animal pens. The kids drop a few nuggets of food down the tube, the animals wait anxiously for it to drop, and it's a win for everyone. Except the monkey. He has that fun bucket retrieval system rigged that you see up there. That was Micah's fave hands-down.

But in true Micah fashion, he shocked us with this year's visit. When we weren't looking, he fed a llama right out of his cup, and normally that's a little too close for his comfort.

You gotta love body language. The arm that's cut right out of the picture? Stiff. By his side. And Micah's mouth? That's his "I'm concentrating really, really hard" face. His comfort zone is being invaded, and there is no spazzing on his part. I love that fuzzy brown furball eating from his cup for pushing the boundaries on Micah's world. And then there was this:

Petting of a fuzzy headed thing! At a zoo! I swear, next year he'll be stalking the birds that stalk him. But we'll save that for next year.