trip to the zoo

This past Sunday Elliot had a Curling open house and while hanging out in a nice cold ice rink would have been a wonderful way to beat the scorching heat wave that blew through San Diego, Ada and I decided on a girls morning and went to the zoo instead.

Ada loves the zoo. She loves animals - especially very large non-domesticated animals. She can stand and stare at elephants and giraffes and monkeys for hours on end - and that is pretty much what we did. Now, I'm not normally a stop and smell the roses kind of girl and my patience for lingering is famously low, so the prospect of strolling through the zoo at a toddler's pace was quite the new experience. And I'll confess - I loved it. It was great just sitting back and watching how Ada would look at each animal from a variety of angles - and then laughing as she would look up at me with eyes that said "did you SEE this" each time she noticed something new. And THAT is what made my day. Not only did Ada let me tag along as she visited some of her favorite animals, but she wanted me to be a part of her experience. For the first time she really showed that I wasn't just along to help her get from point A to point B - but that I was there to take in the experience with her, because she wanted me to be there. Ada and I are buddies.

I'm no dummy. I know this will go full circle. So I'm going to lock that memory up and put it away in my vault so I can pull it out the first time that Ada makes it all to clear that I'm not cool enough to hang out with her and her friends, and um if I could just not come around while they are over, except to maybe bring them sandwiches and ice cream, that would be great.