Pastries and coffee on the Potomac. Early enough that it was pretty much just us and the people that were pulled out of bed by a powerful drive to exercise their already very fit bods, or by their pets needing a pee. The pastries were too good to share with all the begging ducks, mangy and fat; clearly acquainted with too many human munchies. Evelyn wasn’t too impressed, she seemed a little bored. I think she may have opened her eyes once or twice.
Once we’d licked our sticky fingers clean, pet a few obliging dogs and tormented a cat in a stroller (whattheheck!), We journeyed North West to the zoo. It was a perfect day to be outdoors, and of course we weren’t the only ones with the zoo in mind on such a fine Saturday morning. By a miraculous act of God, we found a parking spot on the same block as the entrance to the zoo. It was one of those spots that was so good that we had to stop, thoroughly read all three parking signs above it, review the restricted times and days, read them again out loud, then look at each other in utter disbelief and delight that we’d gotten so lucky. High fives all around.
I just blogged about finding an awesome parking spot. I must live in the D.C. metro area.
In other almost as exciting news, Mei Xiang, our local giant panda, gave birth to a healthy baby cub the day before our visit. Our main objective for the day was to see a panda, and thankfully, there was one that wasn’t busy in the “reproductive activities”. Simone LOVED the panda! I do get what all the fuss is about. They really are darling creatures. Though I prefer otters.
Probably the cutest lil critters in the park…
We finished the day with a twilight splash party. For the first half hour, Simone had the whole splash park to herself. She’s a very focused player, with abrupt outbursts of gleeful laughter. She’s pretty verbal, but there are somethings that are just so wonderful to her, wide eyed squeals and tiptoes pounding and prancing express her sentiments far better than words.
She often has a plan for how she plays, and executes with such care and purpose. I’ll try to engage her, ask her questions, play with her, but sometimes she acts like she simply can’t be disturbed. Is this a first child thing? Am I just not fun enough? I don’t know what to make of it, but I do so love the opportunity to sit back and watch her deliberate movements, imagine what she’s planning to do next and how she’s processing all of it.
lines falling 