Sunday was an extraordinary day. The sky was blue, the sun was shining brilliantly and the high temp was around 77 degrees. In short, it was a perfect day for a family trip to the zoo.

We have a lovely children’s zoo in Lincoln. It’s small but beautiful, and the zookeepers do a great job of keeping the grounds well-manicured and the animals in great shape. That being said, Jeremy and I were reminded of it being a zoo (a.k.a. a place where animals live, eat and have their being) when we rounded the front walk and were affronted by raw animal odors. Ah well. Livia, who hasn’t yet exhibited displeasure at her own nasty odors, didn’t seem to care a bit. We spent over an hour wandering by exhibits. Livia mooed and woofed her heart out at reindeer, goats and ponies—and even squawked back at the macaws. I was shocked to learn that bald eagles’ nests can sometimes equal 10 feet in diameter and can weight several tons, and Jeremy found out that the difference between monkeys and apes is that monkeys have tails. So there you go, education and fun rolled up into one tidy package on a Sunday afternoon.