Clarification and More Zoo

February 5
From Sue
We skyped with my parents last night (what a blessing it is!) and they told me that my nephew, Matt, was horrified to read on the blog that I left the kids here by themselves, so I thought I should explain the situation. We live in a gated apartment building with a doorman working 24/7. We also have many locks on the door. Our neighborhood is pretty nice so we feel safe here. I just wanted to reassure people that the kids were safe without me:)

The kids wanted to chime in about the zoo, so here are their accounts:
Maggie: It was hot, and the taxi driver got lost, but the rest of the trip was fun! We saw some cool animals like teeny-tiny monkeys, little ocelots, and big parrots. The zoo was pretty crowded; everyone decided to spend a sunny day at the city zoo. It's really big and was organized into zones and "streets" like Galapagos, International, and Jungle sections. I was a little hesitant about the heat and large number of people, but I had fun hanging with my family. Elijah was a little whiny for the first part, but made up for it with his great enthusiasm for the big cats and exotic animals. It was a good adventure to do while Dad is away. :)
Rebekah: It was fun there. I saw peacocks. I also saw black jaguars. I had studied the rainforest in school, and I got to see a bunch of animals that we studied about. We saw monkeys and tapirs. One snuck up on Maggie. And Mom. I liked the tapirs. We saw an ocelot as well. We saw giraffes, some water buffaloes, and a baby water buffalo, some goats, and two ostriches. One was dirty and one was clean. Me and my sisters and my brother and my mom had a great time at the zoo.
Elijah: I got to see lions and tigers and bears. They were cool. A goat sneaked up on me. It was a goat with a beard and some big fat horns. The lions and tigers and bears were sleeping all the time. I think that they're party poopers. I had a good time with my family.