Gibbons Ranch

I've wanted to take Alex to a petting zoo for a while now, but there just don't seem to be any in Sacramento. So we went to Gibbons Ranch, where Alex could at least see some animals up close. He got to see goats, ducks, geese, horses, a pig, and a peacock. As you would expect at his age, those animals for him were separated into two categories: birds and dogs. He was fascinated by the horses, and called them "woof" as he pointed to them. ("Woof," of course, is how he says "dog." ) Alex was fascinated by the horses until one came over to say hi and sniff us. At that point he realized just how big a horse is, so tried to climb away and hide.

The escape-artist goats were very friendly. One of the funny moments from our trip to the Ranch was seeing a group of girls carrying an escaped goat around like a baby, trying to find someone who worked there to give the goat to. According to the guard we spoke to on the way out, they escape all the time, but go right back in whenever they get hungry.