Who knew...

...that the supersonic hand dryer

would prove to be the highlight of the day??!!

And I'm so proud of all of you for not

cheating by looking on facebook.

The weather turned warm...for February in Indiana...so Caroline and I headed to the zoo to soak up some sunshine. Our goal was to see the zoo's new bear cubs, an orphaned pair rescued from Alaska last year. And that we did, but I had to laugh at the sheer delight my girl found in simply drying her hands in the restroom. She usually fusses at me when I'm blow-drying her hair, and when we first came home, she had great disdain for anything loud. Times have changed...and one of those fancy new high-powered make-your-skin-flap-like-you're-standing-in-a-wind-tunnel kind of dryers proved to be quite entertaining in the moment.

So, on to the zoo...we timed it perfectly and arrived just in time to watch the sea lion feeding. Then Caroline was quite put out to discover that the Oceans building was closed. She really wanted to see the polar bear, and we were, thankfully, able to catch up with him from the outside viewing area.

From there, we set out on our (Alaskan brown) bear hunt and found the zoo's new residents quite charming. And a little scary. Thanks to my zoom, I got a good look at their scruffy little faces, and let's just say I wouldn't want to run into them in the Alaskan wilderness. We watched for quite a while, and I decided to do a little manual shooting. Even with the light meter, some of my pictures were a little overexposed. Thank goodness for Photoshop.

Next stop...giraffes. They are just always fun. Sometimes I think they are just as fascinated by us as we are by them. I found myself clicking away...stop the presses, on manual again...and one of them made intense eye contact with me as he plodded my way. I have to admit, the camera fell to the wayside as I snatched Caroline from the fence and stepped back a bit. I know giraffes are known to be quite docile, but I have no interest in making the six-o-clock news as the first zoo paparazzi to be attacked.

It was right about the time that we reached the back of the Plains exhibit that our leisurely walk picked up speed. "Wook at da monkees, Mama...I gotta go POTTY!" Remembering that we were operating sans pull-up and that the restrooms were located at the entrance to the exhibit, we practically ran past the baboons, the wild dogs, and the zebras. Good thing the elephants were on sabbatical! Whew! Maybe it was our victory in reaching the restroom on time that made the whole hand dryer episode so much fun.

Can't leave out the lemurs!

We wrapped up the day with the afternoon dolphin show. I sat back and enjoyed watching Caroline watch...sometimes that's more entertaining than the show itself. Like when she got frustrated with her Fisher Price camera's dead batteries. And exclaimed, "Oh, I know!" And grabbed her $3 Cinderella cell phone and proceeded to take her picture with it. These children of the 21st century...

And then there was the animated conversation she was having with my hairdresser...I had a hard time remembering she wasn't talking on an real phone! I tried to record it with my little digital camera, but it has a death wish. It ALWAYS dies when I'm trying to use it. Hate it. HATE cameras with old-fashioned batteries.

Click here to view all of the zoo photos...

It was such a quiet day at the zoo...I don't think I've ever been there on such a quiet day. Without a pack of my friends and their respective followings. Or without a pack of field-tripping grade-schoolers. And just one critter of my own to keep up with. It was a little strange. And kind of nice. A little lonely. But exactly what God designed it to be. It was a day of healing, and I am thankful. I am thankful for the privilege of being mommy to this charming little creature who fills my days with laughter and spunk and JOY. God knew that this day would come and that I would need this joy to wash all over my wounded spirit. Joy is my gift. And joy is my strength. That and hand dryers.