When Hazel Met Dora

Earlier this year, I bought a zoo membership. This is not something I would normally do because I don't love zoos that much. But admission prices being what they are, if I used it even twice, it would pay for itself and then some. Turns out there are other perks to being a zoo member: early admission to the zoo and money off some of the special events for example. So this, our third trip to the zoo in two months, was one of those special events we got to attend for a reduced price.

Hazel and I woke up bright and early today to go to the zoo to meet....::drumroll please::.... Dora the Explorer! And by bright and early, I mean before the sun. Just goes to show how much I love my daughter that I'll wake up at 6 am on a Saturday.. :) It was a breakfast and play time with Dora, and considering Hazel's show preferences lately, I thought taking her to something that involved Dora would probably be a win.


We got there in good time and after a quick trip to the bathroom, I decided that waiting in line to take a picture with Dora should be done sooner than later. I had tried to explain to Hazel that we were going to go meet Dora, but I don't think she got it. Then I pointed Dora out to her...and she still didn't get it. When we were about third in line, she finally got a good look at her and shouted "DORA!" and grinned her biggest grin I've seen in a while. She ran right up to give Dora a high-five when it was our turn but she didn't want to stand there by herself, so that's why I got to be in the picture too.


I got us some breakfast and got us seats so Hazel could keep watching Dora if she wanted to. She did for a couple of minutes and then decided the food was more interesting. By the time we were about done eating, Dora was taking a break to do some "exploring" in the general direction of the restrooms. When Hazel saw Dora leaving, she shouted out "DORA! Bye-bye!". It was very cute. And when I say shouted, I mean shouted - we had several tables of people laughing at her cuteness.

After breakfast came the toys. Fischer-Price was sponsoring this whole thing, and they provided a nice variety of toys for all the kids to play with. Hazel's favorites were the Little People dolls and their accessories, especially the ones with swings and the house, and the Thomas the Train "choo-choos". There was one that I thought was pretty cool - you shone a light and the Thomas would chase it - I just looked it up and it's called Follow Me Thomas. So there are some good ideas for Christmas presents, those who have been asking. :)










After an hour and a half, I finally convinced Hazel that we'd had enough of the toys. She was a trooper and only cried for a minute until she realized that when I said we could go look at the animals, I meant "right now". On our way out of the Children's Zoo area, she got to pick between a backpack and a lunchbox (she picked a backpack, of course - you don't ever see Dora with a lunchbox, do you?) and she also got a Deigo toy, which she was very excited for.















Since the zoo had just opened to the general public, I decided that it was now or never to see the koalas, who are visiting the Phoenix Zoo until March. Last time we came (with the sole purpose to see the koalas) there was a 60 minute line so there was no way we were standing in that. Today it was only about 2 or 3 minutes, so that's a bit more doable. They were cute, but not doing a whole lot.
















After that we checked out the giraffes, as usual. I think her fascination with the giraffes has less to do with those animals and more to do with the little tower you can climb to get a better look at them. Then I decided I wanted to take Hazel to see the tigers and lions. Now, what you need to understand (those of you not familiar with the Phoenix Zoo) is that the lions and the tigers are way, way, way far away from everything else. It's like the zoo has left a bunch of space to expand as they get more money, and it seems they stuck the lions and tigers out in the middle of it. But it was the only part of the zoo we hadn't seen yet on our various trips, so away we went.

I'm sure in reality, it's really not that far of a walk to this part of the zoo. But when you're trying to keep a tired 2 year old moving faster than a snail, trust me, it seems forever. Hazel invented a fun new game I like to call "Chase My Shadow" where I'd run ahead of her and she'd try to step on my shadow. (Kathy just taught her about shadows the other day.) So that helped keep her motivated and then we sang songs the rest of the way. I got a couple of weird looks for singing "Old MacDonald" all loud but whatever - Hazel was happy so I was happy.

Unfortunately, our walk didn't end up being worth much. The tiger was way in the back of his area hiding under a bush and the lions were sleeping with their backs to us. So I don't think Hazel actually saw them or recognized them for what they were. It was too bad, but at least I got some exercise. I had Hazel ride on my shoulders on the way back so we could get home some time before dinner.


After one more time up the giraffe tower, we went for our usual carousel ride, which Hazel really seemed to enjoy extra today for some reason. She gave her zebra lots of pats and kept saying "Nice zebra." Yes, it really was that adorable. And she kept tilting her head up to look at the top of the carousel as we went around - I think she's trying to figure out how it all works.

Then we headed over to the water fountain area so I could sit down for a bit and Hazel could go nuts in the water. At least I planned ahead this time and brought her swimsuit so she wouldn't have to ride home in just her unders like last time. As you can see, she had a blast.















Apparently, it was a successfully fun day as evidenced by the level of exhaustion she hit on the way home. It was very fun for me to spend some quality time with my girl. She is such a joy to have in my life and I love her so much.