A Trip to the Zoo By Kinley Marie

My Trip to the Zoo

By Kinley Marie

Lions and tigers and bears - OH MY!

I saw all those animals and more when I went to the Topeka Zoo this weekend. I took my Mommy because she really likes zoos. I took Daddy because I like having him around for my big adventures. I took Grandpa so he could pay. And I brought along Grandma because a girl needs photos to remember the big moments in her life.

A near crisis was averted when Grandma's camera froze up at the very beginning of our adventure. But she wiggled the battery and that seemed to do the trick. Mommy and Daddy had their camera phones, but let's be realistic. They wouldn't have taken nearly as many photos as Grandma. And a momentous occasion such as this one should be recorded with more firepower than a measly camera phone, right?! (Grandpa had his camera phone, too, but that would have been simply hopeless, let's face it.)

Mommy slathered me with sunscreen. She made me wear a floppy hat. I grabbed my koala rattle to keep with the zoo theme. And we were off!

The first animal exhibits were constructed in Gage Park in 1933.Wow, that's even older than Grandma and Grandpa! I've been doing some research about zoos and animals in my rather large library at home. But it was good to get a look in person.

My Grandma and Grandpa live on a real farm. They have a barn. But they didn't have goats and llamas in their barn like they do at the Topeka Zoo. My family didn't buy me any animal feed so I could really make friends with these guys. Maybe next time.

We also saw Temba and Sunda, the elephants. I hear that some people want them to move to Tennessee. I'm pretty sure I can't go to Tennessee to see them, so I hope they stay here.

We saw giraffes. They were really tall - even taller than Daddy. The apes are supposed to have really long arm spans, but don't ask me. They were hiding their arms.

Daddy and Grandpa had to see if their arm span was as big as an orangutan's 8-foot span. Good try, guys. (I am a believer in positive reinforcement. But even all my positive energy couldn't help them stretch that far.)

I guess I am taller than a Galopagos Penguin (at 21 inches), but shorter than an African penguin (28 inches). But I wouldn't know. I had to take a cat nap after watching the tiger and the lions sleep, and my people didn't wake me up to measure.

A girl needs her sleep. But she also knows when it's time to wake up. I opened my eyes as we were going through the gift shop. And guess what? I also brought Grandma along so she could buy me a book, A Day at the Zoo.

I read it myself several times already. (I tasted it, too.)

But on Sunday, before Grandma left, I had her read me all the words. 

I hope you read all my words about my great adventure at the Topeka Zoo. Maybe I'll write a book someday.

The End