Rookie Dad: The zoo turned out to be a real zoo

A child's life is filled with firsts. This is especially obvious during those first few years. So far, The Youngling has experienced her first birthday, a couple of Christmases, Easters, Thanksgivings and her first wagon ride. She's also experienced her first instance of floor-covering vomit. That's one first I'd rather forget. But in the tradition of good firsts, we headed to the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley last Sunday where we met up with a gaggle of our friends and their kids. All told, our herd consisted of a dozen youngsters ranging from a year old to eight years old.

All of the kids seemed to have fun but mine seemed to be the most awestruck by the animals. It only seems fitting, I guess, because her bedroom in decorated in an animal theme including a bunch of photos we took many years ago while vacationing in our country's 50th state.

The Youngling was a force to be reckoned with as we made our way through the outdoor exhibits at the zoo. Knowing that the real fun was best seen on foot, she constantly stood up in her stroller to get a better view and make her grand escape. Sure, her constant horseplay could have been remedied by simply buckling her in to the stroller but that would put me among the ranks of overprotective parents who constantly use the safety precautions at their fingertips and I am definitely not that guy.

So the battle to keep her in the stroller ended in a compromise. She walked for a while where there was less traffic to get in her way and she somewhat willingly rode in her stroller when we got close to something cool to see.

I honestly don't remember what she was most impressed with but she did get to see the goats up close and based on her growling like a bear more than once the following day I'd have to assume that the grizzly bears - who were fighting for the audience - made a lasting impression on her young mind. But the best had to be her take on what monkeys sound like. Maybe she had heard me imitate monkey sounds before or maybe The Youngling was mocking her old dad. Whatever the case, I'm sure that we'll eventually be back at the Minnesota Zoo because she still gets in for free for another year and a half and that's a price everyone can agree on!