Today we went to the zoo. It was a lot of fun. We have been going to the zoo since our oldest, Samuel, was 18 months old, and he is now 7. He has always loved animals so we decided he might like it. He loved it and we got annual passes. We have had passes almost every year since then. It’s good, cheap, Byrum family fun. Even though we have now been to the zoo many times, the kids still get excited about going. Their new favorite pastime is to take pictures of all the animals on “their” camera. ( it’s our old camera that we let them have). Watching them today, I thought about how I know they will remember these zoo trips as they become adults. I hope they will look back on them fondly. I have so many happy childhood memories and I hope they will also.

One neat thing about still living in the area in which I grew up, is that many of my childhood memories I have, I can also have with my children, such as going to the zoo. I walked around the zoo today and remembered being their with my parents as a child. I remember riding the little tram and watching the Elephants. I remember eating at this little restaurant that overlooked some African animals and watching a gazelle be born. Sadly, that restaurant is no longer open, but the building is still there. I remember taking pictures of animals with my own camera as a child, just as my boys did today. Wow, how time flies. I remember those moments so distinctly and now I am doing those same things with my own boys almost 30 years later.

I think a lot now about making memories with my kids. I hope they will look back on their childhoods and remember these fun times that their dad and I are working so hard to give them. I sure do enjoy watching their little faces as they have fun. I know I will remember these moments in their lives when they are adults. Sometimes when you are younger you think to yourself that you are just waiting for a certain time in your life. Like when you are 8 you can’t wait to be 10 or when you are 15 you can’t wait to get to college, or whatever. I have realized, recently, that this is that time in our lives. We have to make the most of right now, because time goes by so quickly. Our kids are getting older by the minute and now is the time to make those memories with them. We can’t wait until tomorrow, because tomorrow they will be graduating high school. A wise person once said to me, “the days are long and the weeks are short, when raising kids”. That is so true. I am trying to slow down and realize that those moments that my kids will always remember are being made, now.