Every time we go we've been taking a picture next to the giraffe measurement board. The oldest is to the left, taken September 8th 2002. And the furthest right is, from Sun, May 4, 2003 Must find the first, Bradley's first birthday - October 2001, and scan it in.

I think Bradley has grown the most over these last nearly 5 months. 4 inches over Esme's 2 inches?

Esme's brave enough to go inside and Bradley kept shaking his head when I was asking him to come in.

So, Bradley stands on the pushchair and shouts at the baby giraffes who come out. Esme and I stay inside and shout to the giraffes inside. I forget how tall these things are, and the size of their heads - wow.

736 Also posted to: Home page . At: 10:56:25 PM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: Chester Zoo when they're small

A couple of nice pix. Bradley's standing within a window frame inches from hundreds of fish, swimming past his nose. The tank is as tall as he and 10 feet deep. It looks good top me and I'm sure it looks good to him, particularly the depth perception of the tank at the edges of your vision.

735 Also posted to: Home page . At: 10:53:26 PM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: Chester Zoo's fish

They like it in the chimp house. I tell Esme that the one sitting in front of us is the biggest and oldest. Why? She asks. And translates it into "why is he the badest?" He's been chasing and ooo-oooing at the others.

This baboon, or is it mandril, well this caused the biggest story with Esme. I was trying to take this very picture, as usual the camera takes some time to warm up. I ask Esme to turn around, she does, just before I squeeze the shutter, Esme jumps out of he skin. She's been standing inches away from this beast, separated by the glass, and the beast taps the glass, quite hard.

People in the crowd also jump. Someone says that it maybe because she had her back to him. Later as we go over the incident for the fifteenth time I say that perhaps it was because the monkey thought it maybe funny to say 'boo' to Esme. Another fifteen times later, 'why did the monkey make me jump? Maybe, I say, it was because you were rude, maybe it was because the monkey thought it was funny. Finally, she decides that it was because it was funny, not that she was rude.

We just missed the penguins getting fed. They see some whizzing past, as in the picture. And as I try to get more pix, they begin to pretend their on horses, and gallop around the enclosure. Bradley like this the most, as Esme disappears off to see the sea lions being fed, he gallops more, and shout to me for something, I wish I could understand what.

734 Also posted to: Home page . At: 10:52:46 PM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: Even more Chester Zoo

We arrive late, takes ages, as usual to get Esme dressed. 48 miles to Chester Zoo, we've been before. We dive straight into the cafe to get some chips. And I keep pinching chips off Esme's plate, she get wise after a while. Bradley drops each of his three chicken fingers on the floor, and has one of Esme's. It's good fun, we laugh, and laugh. I wonder if everybody else in the cafe thinks I'd a divorced dad.

On the way out we take another ritual picture on the brass envelope.

Bradley gets close up to some lizards, I tell him their like dinosaurs.

733 Also posted to: Home page . At: 10:52:18 PM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: More Chester Zoo