National Zoo, Washington D.C.

We tried to get on the road early the next day, as we were meeting college friends and their children at the National Zoo on the north side of Washington D.C. When we arrived, we were running late and reached the first parking lot just as the last spot filled up. We had to move on to the last parking lot at the other end of the zoo. Franz finally just turned around, determined to park anywhere closer to the meeting spot. As luck would have it, an attendant was just re-opening the first lot to a small number of cars to park along the remaining curbs. Finally, we were settled and unloaded. It was H-O-T already. We brought our water bottles in the bottom of the stroller, along with Jackson's puppy leash. We wore the backpack diaper bag, and I put the necessities from my purse in it so I wouldn't have so many things to keep track of. Again, we moved all the outside coolers and suitcases to the inside of the car, occupying our seats once we were out. As we hustled across the street, Jackson kicked off one of his shoes, which we didn't notice until several minutes later. We spread out and retraced our steps and found it in the road.

It was fun to meet up with friends, and once the parking / unloading / lost shoe frenzy was over, we settled into a relaxing, if uncomfortably warm, visit.

The kids hadn't seen each other since Katie was 9 months old, so they didn't really remember each other, but hit it off quickly as they rushed from exhibit to exhibit. The oldest of their three boys are just months away from Madeline's and Katie's ages. Franz would like to set up a double arranged marriage, I think. So far, no papers have been signed, I don't think.


We made our way directly to the panda exhibit, which of course, was enough to propel Maddie to Cloud 9. She is s serious panda fanatic! She has an uncountable number of panda toys and clothing items, all of which she has named "Bamboo." The zoo also sports a separate panda gift shop and we did not manage to leave without collecting a couple of souvenirs.

This panda is playing with a ball filled with treats, just like people give to their pet dogs. They have to use time and intelligence to manipulate the treats through the holes.

The pandas were all inside that day due to the heat, and we had to be quite and avoid the back half of the panda house because they had secluded a female panda to watch her for signs of pregnancy.

I love this orangatan picture. I wish he could tell us what he is thinking!

The tiger display was intriguing because this male tiger was on the prowl. They had a female tiger in heat locked inside the inner part of the display and he knew it. He was vocalizing loudly, swimming around in the water, and restlessly standing on his hind legs trying to get in through the door. He was so very loud. I had no idea how loud a tiger could be. Jackson was fascinated and threw a fit when we finally moved on after 15 minutes or so of watching him. Jackson continued to imitate the noise for a long time.


After the zoo, we were all tired and hot. We divided back up into our cars and headed for our friends' home in nearby Virginia. Franz had been telling me for some time that their rolling neighborhood was his ideal. Finally I could see how beautiful it was for myself.

The kids all spent the remainder of the afternoon swimming and jumping on the trampoline. We had a pizza party and just relaxed. We had very comfortable guest accomodations in the basement.

Just before we turned in for the night, we had an impromptu fireworks display for the kids out on the driveway. Each of the kids got to take a turn to select the next firework out of a huge display.

The next morning, their kids had VBS and we left right around the same time, heading back toward Washington D.C. to see some of the sights of our nation's capitol.