Lions, Tigers, and Panda Bears...Oh My!!

While Tony was off we went to the National Zoo. I honestly can't remember the last time I have been there. All I know is it had been a very long, long time!

By far the 3 highlights of Lily's day were: seeing her Godfather, riding the subway, and walking under the misters at the zoo.

Lily absolutely LOVES riding trains! The fact that the "trains" to DC go underground...well, that makes them all the better! For Lily that is. For me??? Not so much.

To be honest, riding in the subway Freaks. Me. Out.

On the outside I try to appear calm, cool, and collected...but inside I'm dying. Literally.

Of course, Lily's color commentary doesn't help:

"Wow, look how long this escalator is! We must be going really, really far down into the ground!!"

~ Geez, thanks kiddo! You're killing me here!

"You know what's really cool??? There aren't any windows down here. I mean, you can't even tell if it's day time or night time!"

~ Um, okay. I can do this...if only I can remember to breathe!

"I bet if the lights went out it would be really, really, realllllly dark down here."

~ Alrighty then. Does anyone else hear that ringing in my ears??

"What would happen if the train just stopped in one of these tunnels? Would we just get out and walk?"

~ Will someone please just kill me now?!? Please.

I honestly don't know how people ride the subway every day. I break out in a cold sweat just thinking about it!

Since we were riding the subway...and I was heavily sedated ;-)...we decided to make a slight detour for a quick visit with Rich, our friend and Lily's Godfather.

It's always wonderful to see Rich. Even if it is only for a few minutes!

After our quick visit we hopped back on the subway ~yippee~ and headed to the zoo.

It wasn't particularly hot the day we visited the zoo. That fact didn't stop Lily from standing under every mister we passed until she literally had water dripping from her nose and chin! Go figure.

It wasn't just Uncle Rich, the subway, and the misters that Lily enjoyed. Lily also enjoyed seeing all the animals.



For reasons I can't begin to explain, Lily showed every animal the map she was carrying. I'm not exaggerating. Lily held the map up to each glass enclosure or open exhibit we visited. Every. Single. One.



I'm not sure if Lily's goal was to let the animals know where they were or maybe she was helping them plan their escape. All I know for sure is that Lily was getting the biggest kick out of herself...and so were her father and I!!