random moments from Virginia

One of my favorite memories from our brief time living in Colorado Springs after college was the zoo at Christmastime, when we went to see the lights and we got to feed giraffes out of our hands, standing on a raised platform so their faces were just inches away from ours. I had never realized giraffes were so majestic and prehistoric looking, with big brown eyes and prehensile purple tongues. It made an impression. So, when we got a chance to go to a small zoo in Richmond after Thanksgiving, I was so excited to see the same setup. Lucy already knew giraffes had purple tongues from her Netflix self-education, but she thought it was cool anyway.

Faun Spotting at Maymont Park

We went with some of the family to a large natural park in Richmond, and in between tree climbing an creek jumping Lucy's foot went into a creek, soaking her shoe and tights. The temperature was in the low 30s, so we removed the offending footwear and used cousin Emma's furry hooded sweatshirt as makeshift pants instead. Lucy was remarkably good spirited about the whole thing, and took turns getting piggy back rides from our rather large contingent, and when we ended up in a field with the ladies crowded around her she looked like some sort of faun princess from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Oscar has become more interested in books with age, but he has never had such an attention span as when Aunt Wendell, baby whisperer, read him one of Jordan's old favorites, Going on a Bear Hunt, complete with hand motions.  He was enthralled.