My Zoo Crew by Kinley Marie

My Zoo Crew

By Kinley Marie

I took my crew to the Topeka Zoo on Saturday. My Grandma and Grandpa Fritzemeier came to town. My original plan was to have them read to me the entire weekend. I love to read. I could read all day. Grandma says she can relate.

But my Mommy said I needed to be sociable. Then I remembered that I'd taken them to the zoo about 8 months ago. They seemed to have a good time. I had just been the week before with my Mommy and Daddy. But you do what you have to do to entertain the grandparents - respecting your elders and all that.

First off, I have to tell you about my nose. I know you're probably too polite to ask. But I wouldn't want you to think I got into a fight with a tiger or a bear at the zoo. It was an air vent at day care. I am quite a runner these days. Well, maybe I'm not as good a runner as I thought. Just ask my nose.

Anyway, I did see tigers. They just weren't responsible for my injury, even though it looked like that tiger could have reached right out and gotten my nose as he passed by. I didn't even get to see any bears this time. The zoo keeper was cleaning up their pen. I was a little disappointed because I am pretty good at making bear sounds. That might sound like bragging, so just ask my Uncle Brent. He always wants me to growl like a bear when I'm talking to him on Skype.

The orangutan was close enough I could have touched her, too. If only that glass hadn't be there we could have really gotten to know one another. My Mommy and my Grandpa and Grandma said they saw the baby orangutan up on top of a ledge. I guess I'll just have to take their word for it. I never saw it even though I looked really hard.

My Mommy and I checked out the giraffes. I am getting taller. But I have a long way to go to get that tall.

We also saw Temba and Sunda, the elephants. I'm glad they haven't moved to Tennessee.

I have a book called But Not the Hippopotamus by Sandra Boynton, so I was glad to see the hippos.

In the rain forest, a parrot tried to play hide-and-seek with me and Grandma. But we saw him anyway.

The otters were some of my favorite animals. I liked the ducks and geese when they were in the pond, but I didn't like it one little bit when one flew up to take some food out of someone's hand.  I grabbed onto Mommy's leg and held on tight.

Whew! There was so much to see and do that it's good that Grandpa and I could take a little break on a bench before we headed off to the playground. Entertaining grandparents is exhausting!

The End

(Or, probably more accurately, the end for now. I'm guessing the grandparents will want to go again.)