At the Zoo: Ube as in Underwhelmed

After innumerable readings of “Curious George Visits the Zoo” and copious books of the same genre, we thought it was high time we brought Ube to the Asheboro Zoo. Surely, she would go ape shot over seeing so many of these amazing animals up close and personal.

Surely, we were wrong.

A three-hour round trip and few hours at the zoo lugging her around while dragging her conveyance (a hand-picked wagon) behind me was followed by an indifferent reaction and the following exchange at lunch:

Me: “Lola, what’s been your favorite part of the zoo?”

Lola: “Going home.”

Me: “Um ... OK. Well, what’s been your favorite animal that you saw today?”

Lola: “Chocolate.”

Cool. Well, I guess we’ll just leave and you can watch a movie about going to the zoo in the car on the way home. From the zoo.

It was worth a try. I think.

The infamous wagon, accompanied by the day's most popular gesture.

The first animal we saw was the zebra.

Apparently ostriches and zebras get along pretty well.

Our lion was a bit more subdued than Alex from "Madagascar."

In his defense, it was admittedly a great spot for a nap.

No, I don't know why Alex won't wake up.

The lemurs were also quite chill.

After the monkeys were a flop, the flamingos were an unexpected surprise. But also asleep.

The one on the left didn't love us disturbing his nap.

I take that back; the monkeys weren't a complete loss. The metal ones were cool.

Surprisingly, the giraffes were also met with an "Enh."

They did remind us that it was nearly lunchtime, however.

We tried not to force any smiles at the zoo. It didn't work.

The elephants were the highlight of the day (for me).

On a stiflingly humid day, a quick drink seemed like a great idea.

Whiny, beleaguered distress was also a go-to look on the day.

 All in all, we still managed to have a good time. But I think next time we'll just read "Curious George Visits the Zoo" again.