TheBanyanTree: Boys at the Zoo

[Margaret R. Kramer]

It was our annual visit to the Minnesota Zoo.  It was a cold and sunny day,
but the best part of the zoo is that we can spend our time all inside if we
want.  There are walking paths around the zoo, but only the hardiest souls
were on them.  We’re wimps, so we stayed inside.

This is Boogie’s fourth (actually fifth) visit to the zoo (Boogie will be
five in April).  It’s been interesting to watch his reaction to it and how
it changes as he gets older.  Last year, he was sure we’d see dinosaurs.
This year, he was disappointed there aren’t any elephants at this zoo.

He remembers what he saw last year.  He knew he wanted to go on the
monorail.  And he knew he wanted to buy a rubber snake at the store.

Poochie (the little one – he’ll be three next month) doesn’t remember
anything from last year.  But we made a big decision and didn’t bring the
stroller this year.  I’m tired of lugging it around.  I’m tired of putting
him in and out of it, so the stroller stayed home.  We thought about using
it as a coat rack and cart, but we decided to use a locker to store our
jackets instead.

Poochie only asked to be carried once and I said no and that was that.  He
scampered and ran around the zoo, and I kept thinking of that commercial
where the babysitter wears the kids out by making them climb hills and run
and do all sorts of physical things.  Yes, I hoped walking around the zoo
would tire them out, because they were spending the night with us, too.

We ate lunch first.  Then we watched the snow monkeys cavorting in the cold
air.  We went into Discovery Bay and watched the sharks swim around the
coral reef.  We watched the dolphin show from below.  The boys got their
hands wet in the tidal pool.

We had to wait for a half hour to ride the monorail.  Can you believe the
boys were actually good while we were waiting?  They have bird feeders by a
window and the boys were fine watching the birds and squirrels come to the
feeders.  The monorail finally arrived and we got on.  We saw buffalo, a
moose, a pack of wolves, camels (with “funny humpy things”), musk oxen, and
wild turkeys perched in the trees.

After the monorail ride, we walked over to the Tropical Trail and saw a
komodo dragon, sun bears, an ant eater, flamingos, gibbons, and other
assorted animals and birds.  Of course, we had to visit the snake area and
saw a HUGE python – 13 feet long.  We watched the bats fly around in their
area, too.

The zoo closed just as we were finishing up.  So we stopped at the store to
buy those rubber snakes.  I bought a pack of aquatic animals for bath time,
which they had to take immediately upon getting back to my house so they
could play with them in the tub.  They were in their PJs with teeth brushed
before we even had dinner.

It was a good way to spend a cold winter day and I think the boys had fun,
too.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
Be a star!

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the
other.
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