Our Happy Place

The San Francisco Zoo seems to be our happy place these days. I got a membership at the beginning of the year and we've been at least 10 times since then. I'm sure it's already paid for itself in the first few months. I'm capitalizing on that commonly known San Francisco secret that the winter is the best time to get outdoors and explore. This zoo is arctic over the summer because it's right on Ocean Beach, but in the winter, a 60 degree sunny day feels great. We often drive up to the zoo after a morning activity and the kids fall asleep in the car. Instead of driving home, I let them nap and head up to the zoo. I get to see the most delightful expression on Jackson's face when he wakes up parked near the zoo. He is thrilled in a way that could only be topped by a visit from Papa.

I've found a sweet little cafe where I usually get myself a sandwich or an iced tea and we head in (free parking on the side street!). We only tried the zoo cafeteria once, a mistake we will not repeat.

We take a lot of phone pictures at the zoo because Jack spends hours later looking at each animal and talking about them.

 This is a place where Jack is rarely cranky or whiny, no matter what kind of day he's had. The zoo makes everything feel better. We've even made friends with many of the big cats. We like Martha and Larry the tigers, and Jack's all time favorite is Jihara, the male lion. Many happy hours spent in the lion house where we have frequently gotten to watch them eat or get training sessions or even roar!

Usually it's just the 3 of us, but sometimes we have zoo guests like Auntie Nay Nay, Grandma, and "Baby Wydia" = Lydia

 

 The trick to the zoo is actually to go a lot and not try to see too many things on one day. You have to linger and go where the sounds take you. If you try to see everything you see a lot of nothing. But if you sit in front of the gorilla enclosure for 20 minutes, a lot will happen. We pretty much always see the lions, but other than that we bounce between our favorites: giraffes, gorillas, mandrils, sheep, hippo, otters, chimps, tamarins, and the dinosaur display.