Great Expectations

My sister asked me how our trip to the zoo went and I paused and thought before answering. I ended up replying, "It was good." The pause was because I was a bit disappointed in how not-excited Brian was with the experience. But as I thought about it and described it to her, I stopped and said, "I think I just have too great of expectations." Because it wasn't a horrible experience, it just wasn't what I had pictured in my mind. Maybe it's that acceptance piece that I'm still working on?

We started our excursion at the butterfly gardens- it was the highlight of the day for Brian. Maybe because it wasn't busy or loud and just seemed serene.


























I had taken the boys to this zoo when they were really young and I remember Corbin, almost three years old, had loved all the feeding stations at the zoo and I thought both boys would be able to enjoy it this time. Brian, after all, always feeds his horse after riding him. But again, I was wrong. The first animal we came to that we could feed was the llama- no way was Brian going to feed him, but he did move my hand (use my hand as an object- age-old autism screening question) to feed the llama. I am happy to say Corbin loved it just as much as he did four years ago.












The baby goats were cute- but as soon as we opened the gates to go in Brian screamed- so we sat in the shade while Josh and Corbin fed them.












And my favorite- the deer. So amazing how they can just walk right up next to you. I love it and could stay in that section for hours...if I was alone.






























This picture I took of Brian while Corbin and Josh were on Go-Karts (another thing Brian screamed "noooooo" at) is so great. It's a perfect depiction of his mood for the whole day- just hanging out with better places to be.