When Julia was in town doing all that wonderful free babysitting, we hopped out of bed Saturday morning and cruised on down to the National Zoo. It's a fine attraction, spacious and well-designed, totally worth a Saturday, and raising a great amount of awareness about the value of the natural world. If you get there early (say, 8 am), you'll beat the crowds and the heat and make your experience all the more pleasant. Be sure to see the orangutans swinging overhead and the kids laughing and awestruck all around. So here are a few photos of the critters we saw, not forgetting of course our favorite critter of all!