Thanksgiving Break, Part I -- Zoo Atlanta

The first half of our Thanksgiving Break was fun and relaxing. On Monday, we decided to put our membership to use and visit Zoo Atlanta. In many ways I think it was our best trip to the zoo yet. The highlight for Elijah was being big enough to ride the carousel and the train unaccompanied. He was beaming ear to ear on his first solo carousel ride. Of course, Keira wanted to ride, too. But, Keira and I kept a safe distance from Elijah so he could relish his independence. Here he is proudly standing in front of the height restriction board.


Another highlight for Elijah was the climbing wall. The zoo has a huge vertical climbing wall complete with harnesses and an automated belaying system. Elijah's never even been interested before. And, this time after watching a while he climbed three or four times! It was very exciting. He's getting very brave.

For Keira, spending the day at Zoo Atlanta was wonderful in it's own way. On our previous trip she was leary of the train and the carousel. She enjoyed the animals, but she was through with the zoo fairly quickly. This trip was different. At first, she was still a little nervous about the train, and she clung to me as she had on our previous trips.


Eventually, she loosened her grip and seemed to enjoy the train rides. Once again, she loved going to see the animals. In fact, she enjoyed the animals so much that I think we saw almost every animal. Yet, her overwhelming favorite of the day was the carousel. I think we rode it close to fifteen times. We rode it about ten times in a row once the carousel operator assured me that we didn't have to get off between rides since we'd purchased an all day pass. I almost had to tear her away from her beloved carousel to get her in the car to head home. Elijah was finished with the zoo, and I think Keira would've been quite content for several more hours!