It's Sunday. Let's get dressed up and go to the zoo.

Brookfield Zoo, September 1961. We briefly visit the Polar Bears, and then we head to my favorite spot: the Children's Zoo.

Do you remember those ducks?

Brookfield Zoo, June 1961. I found the duck exhibit at the Children's Zoo odd.

Reach for a Sheep

 
Brookfield Zoo, 1968. Piglets aren't the only attraction at the Children's Zoo.

That Baby Elephant

Brookfield Zoo, August 1958. My Toronto Cousin and her family visit us late in the summer. Here, my Toronto Cousin and her Dad Kadis (on the right) stop at the Children's Zoo.

"Mutual, I'm sure."

Brookfield Zoo, January 1970. Even the Children's Zoo has a few turkeys.

Winter Geese

Brookfield Zoo, January 1970. I never outgrew the Children's Zoo.

The Best Part about Sundays

Brookfield Zoo, May 1961. I so enjoyed our weekly visits to the Children's Zoo. I'm standing next to the goat pen, but the billys must be in the shed.

It's a baby goat!

 

Brookfield Zoo, August 1960. Mom rarely was free to join Dad and me on our weekly visits to Brookfield. Here, Mom has released me from the stroller to meet the goats at the Children's Zoo.

A Tolerant Llama

Brookfield Zoo, Illinois, 1961. A llama at the Children's Zoo endures my embraces long enough for Dad to snap this shot.

Don't hog the goats.

Brookfield Zoo, June 1964. There's a line of admirers behind me waiting to pet the goats at the Children's Zoo.

Gentle

Brookfield Zoo, June 1962. I admire a goat at the Children's Zoo.

I've always liked wool.

Brookfield Zoo, October 1964. I feed the sheep at the Children's Zoo.

Guinea Pig

Brookfield Zoo, Autumn 1962. I get acquainted with a new friend at the Children's Zoo.

Baby Antelope

Brookfield Zoo, August 1961. I am at the Children's Zoo, getting to know a juvenile antelope. I think it's an Oryx, but I am not certain.

Alpacas and Llamas

I met a friend today for a wonderful lunch. She told me that The Great Midwest Alpaca Festival will be in town this weekend. Alpacas and llamas were among my favorite animals when I was little. Now, I also love them because they produce beautiful fibers for soft knitting yarns.

Time spent with alpacas and llamas also generates great material for the memory bank.

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Children's Zoo, Brookfield Zoo, September 1965. I cannot distinguish whether these photos depict me feeding a baby llama or a baby alpaca.

Do you remember how exciting it was to ring the cow bell?

Brookfield Zoo, Spring 1965. I reach for the cow bell, the central spot of the Children's Zoo.

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Brookfield Zoo, Fall 1964. Although ringing the bell was a thrill, I had more fun feeding a sheep.

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Brookfield Zoo, Fall 1964. A guinea pig for your thoughts? Am I worried about going back to school on Monday?

Oh please! Let *me* pet the baby cow.

Brookfield Zoo, June 1962. I am distressed by the possibility that I'll miss an opportunity to pet an animal in the Children's Zoo.

A Strategy for Visiting the Children's Zoo

If you get to the Children's Zoo early on a Sunday morning—when everyone else still is at church—then you can have the petting area all to yourself.

Brookfield Zoo, September 1967. That's adorable; but is that a baby leopard I see behind the beehive?

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Brookfield Zoo, September 1967. I can barely contain my excitement.

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Brookfield Zoo, September 1967. It was fun, of course, always to hold the "regular" Children's Zoo animals, like the white rabbit ....

... the mellow donkey ...

... and the billy goat.

Eat like a grownup.

I mentioned earlier that Lithuanians, like many Europeans, entertain on Sundays.

My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, loved to cook and socialize. She usually was the one who proposed having parties. My Mom often was less thrilled with the idea because she regularly was exhausted. Mom worked on Saturdays, and on Sunday mornings, she would do hospital rounds while Dad and I went to the zoo. When Mom returned from those rounds, she readied the house by dusting, cleaning bathrooms, and setting the dining room table for the mid-day party.

When the family hosted Sunday dinner, the children ate at a separate table in the kitchen. We sat at the dining table only on rare holidays, like Kūčios.

An easier entertaining alternative was to invite friends over for tea. We served tea in the living room, at the coffee table. Tatjana and Mom had special, embroidered tablecloths that they would use for the tea parties: "tea cloths." The guests would arrive in the late afternoon, and we would serve a variety of pastries. Tatjana often baked a yeasted coffee cake ("pyragas ant mielių"). I was disappointed by the yeast cakes because I wanted sweet, American cakes with heavy frosting and sugary flowers.

I nonetheless was thrilled when guests came to tea because I was not banished on those occasions to a children's table. My Parents instead allowed me to sit with the adults and eat like a grownup.

Even today, I love to entertain guests in the sunny living room. It's much more fun to graze around a coffee table than to eat at the dining table. If you've eaten at our coffee table, Mr. Irene and I hope you enjoyed the visit.

Suburban Chicago, April 1961. Mom, Tatjana, and I host Sunday tea. I sit in one of the painted chairs from the Rec Room play table. Mom has me dressed in red again, and she's wearing those red shoes!  There's little other color in the gray living room.

Mom tells me that red shoes were all the rage then.

Where I spent most Sundays.

My Dad enjoyed taking photographs of animals. Nearly every Sunday morning, he packed me up, and he drove the short distance from our house to Brookfield Zoo. Because we went so frequently, he and I rarely did the "touristy" things other people did at the zoo. For example, we didn't go to the porpoise show very often, and we rarely visited the lion house. Instead, we'd spend hours watching one type of monkey or another, waiting for just the right shot.

The one indulgence my Dad allowed me every Sunday was a visit to the Children's Zoo. There, I could interact with baby animals and even pet a number of them. I remember that feeling of excitement as we used to approach the gates of the Children's Zoo. Even today, just thinking about it, I recall the smell of the baby goats and the sawdust.

My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, once implored my Dad to take me to church on Sundays instead of to the zoo. He responded, "She'll learn more about God at the zoo."

Brookfield Zoo, June 1965. I cradle a white rabbit at the Children's Zoo. My Mom knitted the white cardigan that I am wearing. I have a strap around my neck because my Dad had given me a "Brownie" camera with which to start taking photographs.