Zoo-pendous

Connor had a chance to see some "real animals" last weekend, not just cats, dogs, birds, and squirrels. We took him to the Dallas Zoo. It was a nice muggy day, so we had to make sure we were all dressed accordingly. I still ended up sweating profusely, but what else is new? First up was the Children's Zoo, where there are smaller exhibits, a splash park, and picnic area for families and kids to congregate. One of the exhibits was the "barn" area, where horses, pigs, rabbits, etc. were housed. The barn even had a petting area for kids to pet this one rabbit. We brought Connor up to the rabbit, and he kind of stopped and stared, but didnt' touch it. Then he walked around the rest of the barn, returning to this same rabbit. He did this repeatedly, each time getting closer and closer to the rabbit, but he never did end up petting it. We couldn't figure it out, because he readily pets our dog and cat at home, but this rabbit made him too uncomfortable. After that, we went to see some monkeys, cheetas, llamas, antelopes, a rhino, a tiger, and other assorted wild animals. Then we saw some otters and fish. Following that were the elephants and giraffes, which were being fed. We were able to get pretty close, but still separated by glass. Connor talked to the giraffes and we captured much of his jabbering on video. Then we saw some anteaters, porcupines, eagles, hawks, condors, and flamingos. On the other side of the park was an area we didn't get to see much of, primarily because it was only accessible via monorail, which wasn't working when we were there. However, the most memorable part of the visit was here. We went to the gorilla exhibit. We only saw one gorilla which was up close to the glass, where everyone could get really close. I was holding Connor, but didn't let him see the gorilla initially. I just set him down and the gorilla walked by. Connor was definitely unsure what to think of when he saw this big beast. Even though we were separated by glass, the gorilla probably came within 3 or 4 feet. Connor just tried to hide behind me for protection while still keeping an eye on the gorilla. We caught it on video, and we laughed so hard. It was stupendous! When he grows up and thinks he's so brave and everything, we'll be sure to show him this video:
See Connor run from the gorilla