If you're a mom, you have those days. The ones where you feel like you aren't accomplishing anything, you aren't contributing anything valuable to the world, and you are lost in mommy-land 'till who knows when. BUT you also, hopefully, have the days where you feel like a super hero and you want to shout I AM WOMAN HEAR ME ROAR! Well, yesterday was one of those days for me (the kind where I get to roar). I hope you allow me to pat myself on the back a little - sometimes if you don't do it, no one will, right? Well, yesterday we went to the zoo. And by we I mean me, Andrew, and Aaron. Now, lots of moms take their kids to the zoo without Dad, but today was somehow different. Was it the fact that we got through our visit without spending a dime? (We ate a healthy lunch that I packed and didn't buy a single snack!) No, I think it was the visit to the elephants that boosted my ego. You see, the zoo recently announced the birth of a new elephant. They even more recently began allowing the public to visit the baby and his mama. We made it to the main entrance of the zoo around 10:15, and I saw the sign that said the baby elephant viewing is from 11:00 - 1:00. I kinda wanted to hit the aquarium first, but decided we would probably NOT have a good time if we had to wait an hour for the baby elephant. So we headed there first. As I approached the elephant area, I saw that they had created kind of a maze for people to stand in line - like at an amusement park. We started on the path, and quickly made it to the entrance of the elephant house. A few other families were there, and everyone was parking their strollers outside the door. It became clear to me that we were going to have to go inside to see the new little guy, and that strollers were, apparently, not allowed. It was only 10:30, so I gave Andrew a snack, made Aaron a bottle, and began to make preparations to take both children into the elephant house without our stroller
. At about 15 till, they started letting people in. I got Andrew out, strapped on his little backpack (it has a leash!), and started to get the front carrier out. Then I changed my mind. Aaron had just started his bottle - I'd better hold him instead. We got ourselves situated, and found our place in line. Now remember, my stroller was parked literally about 10 paces from the door. After 10 minutes of waiting, we actually got into the building. I assumed we would walk up to the glass, ooh and aah at the cute baby and be on our way. No. It really WAS like an amusement park - you know, you wait, and wait, and you get inside and think you are almost there, then you see another maze of people still waiting in front of you. Apparently mama and baby usually do a lot of walking, so lots of people get to see them as they go by, but today they decided to stand still, so only small groups of people were getting by at a time. Picture me, in line in this little building. In one arm I am holding a baby, in the other I am clutching his blanket, Andrew's hat, which he decided not to wear inside (how polite of him), AND the bottle which I am feeding the baby. My purse is on my shoulder, and around my wrist is the tether that is attached to Andrew's backpack. Andrew is wrapping himself around me like a dog around a tree, so I have to keep spinning around in circles to unwind him. As we make our way around the little maze, I look ahead, and I see two families that have strollers! You CAN bring in a stroller! GGrr! Well, I tell myself that I would have regreted bringing in a double stroller into this small space, an
d continue unwinding myself from my son. I am not a fan of big crowds, so I was a little annoyed about the outcome of this adventure, but my kids didn't mind one bit! Andrew was WONDERFULLY well behaved, as was Aaron who happily sucked on his bottle and grinned at me around the nipple every time I looked down at him. He really is SO precious. The docents were very helpful and one of them who saw my balance wavering a little guided us to the glass. FINALLY Andrew was standing still! He stared and stared at the adorable little elephant as it suckled at its mama. With the tether looped around my wrist, I was able to tuck the blanket and hat under my arm, reach in my purse and grab my camera. Thank goodness for modern technology - every thing is so small these days I only need one hand for my camera! Aaron was still smiling in my left arm as I took pictures with my camera in my right hand. After about five minutes, I said "Okay, say bye-bye!" And Andrew called out in his sweet little voice, "Bye-bye, 'phant, 'ee you!" As we walked to the exit, I spied the two strollers near the door. Aaa - who needs a stroller? ROAR! (Okay, I was, relieved to get back to ours.) I looked down at my watch - it was 11:15. Yes, it could have been
MUCH worse. We saw the cute elephant and survived the crowd and the line in under an hour with no meltdowns and no lost children, sippy-cups, or pacifiers. After the elephants, we met up with my friend Trish, who brought her 2 year old daughter Ava. VERY helpful having a friend when you have two boys who need diapers changed. THANKS, GIRL! OH, and did I mention that my friend is 7 months pregnant? ROAR! (That's for you, Trisha!) We peeked in at a tiger who was hiding in the shade, and Andrew enjoyed a visit to the petting zoo before we had our lunch. We headed back to the car around 1:30, and both boys were sleeping soundly by the time we even got out of the parking lot. I think I'm gonna really enjoy this zoo membership. I'll have to be sure to visit the lions next time - ROAR! Heehee.
If you're a mom, you have those days. The ones where you feel like you aren't accomplishing anything, you aren't contributing anything valuable to the world, and you are lost in mommy-land 'till who knows when. BUT you also, hopefully, have the days where you feel like a super hero and you want to shout I AM WOMAN HEAR ME ROAR! Well, yesterday was one of those days for me (the kind where I get to roar). I hope you allow me to pat myself on the back a little - sometimes if you don't do it, no one will, right? Well, yesterday we went to the zoo. And by we I mean me, Andrew, and Aaron. Now, lots of moms take their kids to the zoo without Dad, but today was somehow different. Was it the fact that we got through our visit without spending a dime? (We ate a healthy lunch that I packed and didn't buy a single snack!) No, I think it was the visit to the elephants that boosted my ego. You see, the zoo recently announced the birth of a new elephant. They even more recently began allowing the public to visit the baby and his mama. We made it to the main entrance of the zoo around 10:15, and I saw the sign that said the baby elephant viewing is from 11:00 - 1:00. I kinda wanted to hit the aquarium first, but decided we would probably NOT have a good time if we had to wait an hour for the baby elephant. So we headed there first. As I approached the elephant area, I saw that they had created kind of a maze for people to stand in line - like at an amusement park. We started on the path, and quickly made it to the entrance of the elephant house. A few other families were there, and everyone was parking their strollers outside the door. It became clear to me that we were going to have to go inside to see the new little guy, and that strollers were, apparently, not allowed. It was only 10:30, so I gave Andrew a snack, made Aaron a bottle, and began to make preparations to take both children into the elephant house without our stroller
. At about 15 till, they started letting people in. I got Andrew out, strapped on his little backpack (it has a leash!), and started to get the front carrier out. Then I changed my mind. Aaron had just started his bottle - I'd better hold him instead. We got ourselves situated, and found our place in line. Now remember, my stroller was parked literally about 10 paces from the door. After 10 minutes of waiting, we actually got into the building. I assumed we would walk up to the glass, ooh and aah at the cute baby and be on our way. No. It really WAS like an amusement park - you know, you wait, and wait, and you get inside and think you are almost there, then you see another maze of people still waiting in front of you. Apparently mama and baby usually do a lot of walking, so lots of people get to see them as they go by, but today they decided to stand still, so only small groups of people were getting by at a time. Picture me, in line in this little building. In one arm I am holding a baby, in the other I am clutching his blanket, Andrew's hat, which he decided not to wear inside (how polite of him), AND the bottle which I am feeding the baby. My purse is on my shoulder, and around my wrist is the tether that is attached to Andrew's backpack. Andrew is wrapping himself around me like a dog around a tree, so I have to keep spinning around in circles to unwind him. As we make our way around the little maze, I look ahead, and I see two families that have strollers! You CAN bring in a stroller! GGrr! Well, I tell myself that I would have regreted bringing in a double stroller into this small space, an
d continue unwinding myself from my son. I am not a fan of big crowds, so I was a little annoyed about the outcome of this adventure, but my kids didn't mind one bit! Andrew was WONDERFULLY well behaved, as was Aaron who happily sucked on his bottle and grinned at me around the nipple every time I looked down at him. He really is SO precious. The docents were very helpful and one of them who saw my balance wavering a little guided us to the glass. FINALLY Andrew was standing still! He stared and stared at the adorable little elephant as it suckled at its mama. With the tether looped around my wrist, I was able to tuck the blanket and hat under my arm, reach in my purse and grab my camera. Thank goodness for modern technology - every thing is so small these days I only need one hand for my camera! Aaron was still smiling in my left arm as I took pictures with my camera in my right hand. After about five minutes, I said "Okay, say bye-bye!" And Andrew called out in his sweet little voice, "Bye-bye, 'phant, 'ee you!" As we walked to the exit, I spied the two strollers near the door. Aaa - who needs a stroller? ROAR! (Okay, I was, relieved to get back to ours.) I looked down at my watch - it was 11:15. Yes, it could have been 
MUCH worse. We saw the cute elephant and survived the crowd and the line in under an hour with no meltdowns and no lost children, sippy-cups, or pacifiers. After the elephants, we met up with my friend Trish, who brought her 2 year old daughter Ava. VERY helpful having a friend when you have two boys who need diapers changed. THANKS, GIRL! OH, and did I mention that my friend is 7 months pregnant? ROAR! (That's for you, Trisha!) We peeked in at a tiger who was hiding in the shade, and Andrew enjoyed a visit to the petting zoo before we had our lunch. We headed back to the car around 1:30, and both boys were sleeping soundly by the time we even got out of the parking lot. I think I'm gonna really enjoy this zoo membership. I'll have to be sure to visit the lions next time - ROAR! Heehee.
1 comment:
when in doubt, set your camera to video mode...you can always come back later and splice a couple of good shots from your footage.
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