On Friday morning, all three of the girls seemed to be excited to go for their last day of camp.  We were running late again; it was entirely my fault this time.  I had to take a few pictures before we left.



I think I secretly wanted us to be late, because I really wanted to take this picture:


And I knew I wouldn't be able to get it if I dropped them off in the drop-off line.  Since we were late, I got to walk them into their classes, and since they were late anyway, what was a couple of extra minutes to take that shot?  That kind of rationale probably explains why I'm frequently late.

After I got the big girls situated, I went back to the van and got Abigail and Grandmommy and the three of us checked out several of the animal exhibits.  We saw the hippopotamuses - when we got there, the two of them were laying in the sun and we actually got to see them get up and walk into the water.  I thought that was pretty cool - Abigail was not too sure....She held on to Grandmommy's hand while I snapped pictures


Then, we headed over to the Panda Exhibit.  But before we could get there, we saw this herd of wild animals


No, wait...that would be Gracie and Emmie's Zoo Camp class.  They were headed over to see the sea lion show.  Abigail spotted her big sister and her cousin and took off at a gallop, trying to catch up with them.


We finally convinced her that she needed to stay with us and headed into the exhibit.  I love this exhibit, separate and apart from the pandas.  The music they play is so peaceful and there are all kinds of beautiful things to see.  And the architecture is just so pretty.


Here's Grandmommy and Abigail heading into the exhibit through the courtyard entrance


Abigail found some monkeys and when she saw them, they were all at the top of a pole.  She said, "Down, Mankee!  Down, Mankee!"  And they came down, so I guess she's come kind of Monkey Whisperer.  Now, whenever she sees the pictures of them, she says, "Mankee came down!"  as if to remind me of her special ability.  I think they must have been a family of monkeys.  Here's what I think is the mama checking out the mouth of the baby.  I do the same thing to Abigail when I think she's put something in her mouth that she's not supposed to...


And just before the pandas themselves, there is this great stone, laughing Buddha.  I just love this picture - doesn't it look like he's laughing at her - and who wouldn't with that look on her face?


The pandas were probably anti-climatic.  They were both asleep and you couldn't get a very good view of them, but we've all seen them before when they were wide awake, so it certainly wasn't disappointing.  There's so much else to see in the exhibit anyway, that even without the pandas, it's awesome! 

Grandmommy made a detour into the little gift shop at the edge of the exhibit exit while Abigail talked to a dragon


When she finished her conversation, we met Grandmommy in the gift shop, where my little con artist convinced her grandmother to buy her the cutest little panda in a purse.  The shopkeeper put it in a little bag for her and she carried it around for the rest of the day, proud as a peacock.


Once we left there, we headed to the Merry-Go-Round (or, as Gracie still calls it, the Merry-Come-Round - makes just as much sense to me as Merry-Go-Round!).



Grandmommy & Abigail shared some ice cream and then we headed home.  Abigail took a much-needed nap and then we met the big girls and Aunt Bronie at the Water Sprayers.  They had a great time playing in the water - it was the perfect ending, to a long, fun-filled week of Zoo Camp.






You know, sometimes I wonder why I don't have as many pictures of Ruby as I do of the other girls.  Part of the reason is that I follow Gracie and Abigail around all the time with the camera like some kind of whacked out Mommy Paparazzi; part of the reason is that Emmie asks, quite often, "Aunt Daffy, can you take a picture of me doing (insert whatever activity she's doing here)?".  But a good part of the reason is this:  Ruby is always in motion, more often than not, running at the speed of light.  Like this:


More often than not, when I try and take a picture of her, what I end up with is a picture of the place that she was a split second earlier!

After the water sprayers, we headed back to Sister's house, ate some yummy pizza, and then got ready to start the next leg of our two-week adventure:  Cousin Camp!