The Zoo!

On Saturday, Elliott and I hung out in our jammies all morning and tackled some nasty cleaning projects in the afternoon. Elliott was a great helper and I gave him a cloth to wipe and dust along with me. He also helped me sort clothes for a Goodwill run, even though our criteria for keeping and giving away differed frequently. We took a quick walk to the grocery store for an easy dinner and then packed in early in our nice and clean bedroom.

Applause for our cleaning efforts.

Lane had an offsite in Belvedere, so he left pretty early, but managed to get home by ten, which is pretty early for him these days.

Ted and Elliott express their excitement at the bi-weekly trash collection.

We let dad sleep in on Sunday while Elliott and I shared a breakfast of scrambled eggs, veggies (for me) and milk (for Elliott). I read the paper and gave Elliott the sections I don't read for coloring. Elliott is really into second breakfasts these days, which he definitely gets from me, so I set him up with a waffle and almond butter in his highchair, looking out our windows at the set up going on for the Haight Street Fair. Every year our block plays host to a passel of porta potties, but this year we were granted a reprieve and instead SFPD set up their mobile command unit right in front of our driveway. Elliott was quite interested in all the hustle and bustle and we even saw a few police horses trot by. 

Once everyone was showered, dressed and well-fed, we headed out to the zoo! We got a membership, so I'm quite excited to have the option of taking Elliott whenever we need to get out of the house. We expected that we'd hit fog once we got into the Avenues, but it was hot out at the beach. The first animals we saw were the lemurs and, predictably, Elliott pointed and said "kitty!" It was naptime for most of the lemurs, but they were still fascinating to watch.  We made our way through the lesser primates and spotted the female peacock making her way along the paths and saw her settle into her roost full of eggs! It was so cool I forgot I was holding the (empty) stroller and it awkwardly fell down a couple stairs.
We saw penguins, a rhino, polar bears, grizzly bears and some crazy looking birds. I think Elliott's favorite thing (besides the preztel he shared with Lane) were the chacoan peccaries and the ducks. Chacoan paccaries look like  a cross between a porcupine and a pig and they were so cute! They were running around, eating and teasing each other, and there were even a few babies with them. In the duck pond, we spotted one particularly itchy fellow who was grooming and flapping all over the place. Each time the duck flapped and splashed, Elliott (and Lane giggled). We made a quick trek to the other side of the zoo to see the new red panda, who was napping high up in one of his towers, so we only caught a glimpse of his fluffy tail.

I think Elliott may still be a little young to really interact with the animals, but he certainly had a great time taking it all in on his first trip to the zoo.

In other news, I got a haircut and Elliott has started brushing his teeth.