We met up with friends at the L.A. zoo on Saturday.

Henry insisted on a picture with him near the reindeer so he could show his teacher.

While Paul wanted to check the map at each exhibit.

When all of our kids are together and we round them up for a group photo, my heart sparks with a mini explosion. I am awestruck at how much our lives have expanded from when we first met as couples in SF. Two weddings and a bunch of kids later- we have created families. That feels amazing.

The youngest of the crew makes me most curious. She has balanced out the gender ratio and she will have an older brother, older sister, and awesome parents. What will she be like?

I always leave the zoo with mixed feelings. I don’t know what I think. But sitting in front of this momma orangutan as she picked at the snacks in her pinecone, I kept looking in her eyes so curious about what she saw or thought or felt. I’ll never know.

We did see a baby hippo, baby giraffe, and a jaguar up close. My kids love it. Once a year might be all I can handle.