Kirby catching a ride from Uncle Chris. We had a plan for the day as shown on Kirby’s schedule in the last post.

We got to the zoo and and planned our visit.

Flamingos are near the entrance.

So is the carousel. As I was writing this I wondered why I called this a carousel and not a merry-go-round and are they the same thing. Its easy to find out with Google: “Merry-go-round” and “carousel” are synonyms… Some people say that the difference between a “merry-go-round” and a “carousel” is that they turn in different directions. ... Whatever the reason, merry-go-rounds in Europe tend to turn clockwise. There is more from another source: “Traditionally, horses are mounted from the left side. This is because most warriors were right handed and kept their swords on their left side for fast access. In England, the carousels rotate clockwise so the horses can be mounted from the left, keeping with tradition.”

Look at what you can learn by reading this blog! This carousel definitely rotates counter-clockwise.

I don’t think it matters to a praying mantis if it is mounted from the left or right. I find this one kind of creepy.

I love the bald eagle.

I’ll share just a couple more shots taken at the zoo. A lot of the exhibits had been redone since I’d been there last many years ago. You can get quite close to some of the animals.

It is an impressive view. Kirby spent that night with her other grandparents and we picked her up the next day, which was her seventh birthday. There was to be a party with cousins and the other side of her family on the weekend but she was with us for the actual birthday.

We drove to Old Sac, the Sacramento waterfront where there are shops, dining, and the railroad museum.

We started at the Railroad Museum.

We had been entertained by the long trains on our road trip back to California from Texas. I think Kirby liked seeing the trains, but we didn’t expect to have the same kind of visit that it would be if we were on our own. In fact I think she may have been more interested in riding the elevator up and down.

They have quite good signage and information about the exhibits as well as docents willing to discuss all things trains. This photo was taken in the train car.

In an engine.

We ended the visit to Old Sac with ice cream.

It’s good to have some down time and not have everything planned out all the time. I used part of the afternoon to introduce Kirby to a few of the board games that were favorites of my kids. We played Monopoly, Parchesi, and The Amazing Labyrinth.

The first birthday cake of her multiple celebrations (another with the cousins on the weekend and one more when she got back to Texas)

And of course there were a few presents.