My husband doesn’t work on Thursdays. He has compressed his hours, meaning he works four longer days, but then has an extra day a week gloriously free to spend with Frida.
We decided to put today to good use, making the most of the April sunshine and continuing celebrations for Frida’s first birthday, and take her to the zoo for the first time.
She has started to be much more interested in animals recently so we thought she would be old enough to enjoy it. And I am so glad we took her.
She spent most of our visit in the sling, quietly observing the creatures around her. She loved looking at the myriad colourful birds (“buh buh buh!”) and butterflies, and seemed more taken with these than the monkeys or tigers.
She was mesmerised by the giraffes, despite being quite tired by the time we got round to them. Such amazing features; I can only imagine what she made of them, how her brain must have had to work to make sense of them.
By far and away the biggest success was the penguin area, which has big glass panels where you can watch them swim. Frida was beside herself with joy (lots of pointing and delighted shouting) and we spent a loooong time there, just watching the penguins swim in the sunshine. Bliss.
London Zoo also has an aquarium within it – perfect for hiding from the April showers and a wonderful sensory experience for children of all ages. She watched the fish for a long time, holding on to me tight the whole time as I think she was a tiny bit scared of them.
I didn’t get many good photos as I tried to put my phone away as much as possible, and I have learnt in the past that photos of beautiful animals often end up languishing un-viewed on my iPhone. It was a glorious day though, nicely bookended by a walk through Regent’s Park where the blossoms and flowers are out in full force.
Tomorrow the forecast is for heavy rain so I’m pleased we were able to sneak in this visit.
