No one ever gets to their deathbed and thinks “I wish I’d have spent more time at the office.”

So true. And so today, when friends of ours asked if we’d join them and their daughter at the Philadelphia Zoo, of course we jumped at the chance. V’s been reading books full of animals, but this was the day when she finally realized, “Oh! They’re real!” (Or at least, I like to think she did.) I was in snapshot mode and managed to fire off a few frames in between holding V’s hand and overpaying for soft pretzels.

I have vague but fond memories of my first trip to the zoo. Here’s hoping my baby will, too.