About a month or so ago I placed and "ad" on Facebook for Lily and me. Basically saying that we were fun, loved parks, would share our animal crackers, don't smell too bad usually and were looking for friends.
I got so much response from old friends and new friends that it really made my day. Two of these friends were Meagan Teague and Beth Yaffe, both ladies from the good ole days at Faith Christian High School. We have not seen each other for nearly 11 years and decided it was high time to remedy that. So we got our schedules lined up and found a morning to meet at the Zoo.
Meagan has twins, little Emma and Benjamin. They are absolutely adorable and Lily instantly took a liking to Emma and especially her awesome Radio Flyer wagon. She wouldn't get out of it and when she was out she wanted to help Miss Meagan pull the wagon.
Beth (the only other Bethany in high school), has two boys Asher and Azriah. It truly is the most enjoyable thing to take kids to the zoo. The Denver Zoo is amazing too because all of the animals are very close to you and they are rarely in hiding. We started the morning with a visit to the lions. Lily kept saying, "pet lion, pet lion" all the while growling at them. Such innocence and frankly so cute. I didn't have the heart to tell her that the lions would not be as cuddly as Bryce and Maddie. We got all of the kids together for a zoo photo. This was really the only time that we were able to compile all of the children in one location with all but one of them looking at the camera. Asher, Benjamin, Lily, Azriah and little Emma all made up our entourage.
When Lily and Emma weren't riding in the wagon together, they were exploring everything else. I just love to watch these little ones become friends. It's such a pure thing and so sweet. I have such amazing friends and hope dearly that some of the little girls she meets will grow up to be her lifelong friends. The type of friend that will love her, support her, pray for her, hold her up and walk through life with her. Friendship is such a wonderful thing and watching it blossom is one of the most beautiful and sweet things.
We spent a considerable amount of time in the Feline area of the zoo. With both indoor and outdoor exhibits, all of the kidlets were well beyond occupied. Lily was simply in love with the "kitties" and showed no fear whatsoever. In fact, I had to constantly keep her on the right side of the railing. As you can see, she was ready to climb right in with them.
All of us Mom's knew that we were going to be on borrowed time after a bit and would need to walk quickly through the other exhibits before we had a full 5 child melt down. Sometimes even zone defense is no match for exhausted little ones. We stopped by the giraffes and ate some snack then headed over to the big polar bear that crawled right out on his big rock perch for us all to get a good look at. Again, Lily was nothing but interested calling "por bear, por bear" and growling at him. We made our way into the tropical exhibit to catch a glimpse of all things creepy crawly and slithery. Lily was ho hum about the fish, but LOVED the big Komodo Dragon that was only inches from her little self.
By the time we got out of the tropical exhibit we knew we had to hurry along if we were going to see the elephants. We made it, but seemingly all at once, the kids hit their limit and started the melt down phase. We ate our picnic lunch and then slowly, through some tears and drama, made our way back to the front gates.
The zoo was simply a wonderful trip and it was truly special to reconnect with these wonderful ladies now 11 years and 5 kids later.
Before I leave this blog post there are a couple of things sentimental that I have to share. I have been truly and utterly blessed with friends. God is simply astounding me with His goodness and love. He works amazing things through the power of those closest to us and yesterday was one of those days. I am amazed that even through rough times in life, God never leaves us and sometimes His presence is realized through friends. It's big and it's a blessing.
Also, there are moments where I cannot believe that I get to spend my days with this precious and beautiful little girl. There is so much life, compassion and love in her and it is simply overwhelming to watch her grow. Her unfettered happiness is something I aspire to.
She finds joy in the small things......like a big puddle of water.
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