Who Needs Lions, Tigers & Bears to Have Fun?

While Tom was "working" during his second annual trip to the South Beach Wine & Food Festival representing his restaurant at Le Meridien, Lucas and I set out for the zoo. We went in the late afternoon to avoid crowds and in the hopes of finding lots of animals out enjoying the cool South Florida February breeze.

We ventured to Miami Metro Zoo's new installment, Amazon & Beyond, which is really impressive -- featuring harpy eagles, anacondas, and jaguars. And while the animals were fun (especially the monkeys), Lucas devoted most of his time to the new fountain. While at first he was skirting around the edges, he ended up soaked and loving it. I hauled him off nearly kicking and screaming...dried him off with my sweater, got him into a dry t-shirt and diaper, and offered a cheerios snack and we were all good.

The experience was just as much fun for him as it was for me to watch, living vicariously through him -- I smiled remembering how my mom would NEVER let me play in the cold water because I would undoubtedly catch pneumonia. I hope she was smiling down watching Lucas too...who, astonishingly, as of now does not have pneumonia!