The Thing About Moms

Well there's the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge video I promised you. That handsome gentleman is my Popi and Uncie is the silly guy on a stick. Enjoy! Today's real post is below :)

Today was my wonderful mom's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom! To celebrate, we went to Brookfield Zoo. When I was a kid, we went to Brookfield Zoo together all the time. It was (and still is) one of my favorite places. I learned to count at that zoo by counting all the animals. The dolphins were my favorite back then, but honestly I love all the animals...even the big, lazy hippos. Do you guys remember those ZooBooks? Yeah I'm almost certain I read every single one of those, including the ones about bugs. It was great to be back at the zoo enjoying time with my mom the same way we did it 15 years ago. A lot has changed since then but my enthusiasm for animals is the same. If you told me to pick a favorite, I wouldn't be able to. Although, watching the monkeys in the monkey/ape house was probably the best. There were 4 new babies and they were so insanely cute. The baby gorilla had to be the best, though. Watching her interact with her mother (let's call her Kala) was so sweet. Nora (that's the baby gorilla) was trying to climb on the rope and she just couldn't get it. Kala didn't help her one bit. When another gorilla tried to help Nora up, Kala swatted the gorilla's hand and let Nora keep struggling. That's some tough love for sure. But a few minutes later, Nora got it on her own! She was swinging and then she even beat her chest Tarzan-style. I am not making this up. It was the cutest thing ever. I guess that's the funny thing about moms. They want you to struggle (but only a little bit) and figure stuff out on your own. Now that I'm going to college, I'm going to have to really start figuring things out on my own. But the best thing about moms is that when you really need them, they are there no matter what. I love you, Mom. I won't let you down.