That's What We Said: A 1st Birthday Celebration at the Zoo!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

A 1st Birthday Celebration at the Zoo!

It's hard to believe that Owen's first birthday has come and gone. It has taken me this past week and then some to recover both mentally (my baby is 1!) and physically (we had an eventful weekend).

The birthday boy in his super cute birthday tee!

His birthday fell on a Friday and this little boy was blessed with family that drove from all over and took time off of work to spend it with him. My parents and brothers arrived on Thursday night and on Friday we were all off to the Brookfield Zoo, along with Brett's stepmom and sister and Owen's amazing babysitter, her two kiddos and an extra friend. The weather could not have been more perfect and the zoo was not overly crowded, short of a small mad rush of kids on field trips at the beginning. Owen was a trooper and powered through nap time although he did fall asleep for a short time.
Brett and I have always loved zoos. We once spent an 8 hour day at Brookfield, just the two of us, enjoying watching the animals. I think Owen has inherited this love of animals as he was mesmerized by anything that was moving. Those sleeping furry things did nothing for him, but as soon as they moved, he was in awe. he loved the aquarium building; standing in the glass and watching the fish was his absolute favorite. The highlight of the day was when he was standing in the underground dolphin observation area and a dolphin swam by very quickly. It startled him and his reaction was priceless!

What a wonderful day to spend celebrating with our little boy!

The perfect spot for our little monkey to see the real monkies!

Owen (getting sleepy) and Dad with a very observant gorilla in the background.

Daddy making Owen his first Mold A Rama! This was special for Brett because he rmemebrs making these as a kid when visiting Brookfield. Owen's first Mold A Rama was a gorilla (they didn't have a monkey) and then Grandma Kate bought him a dolphin too!