Meltdowns at the Zoo

The kids have been doing really well with their later nap time, so when Caroline announced last night that she wanted to go to the zoo today, I wasn't worried about leaving immediately after they got up in the morning to fit everything in.  We had a leisurely breakfast and played for a bit while we got ready and Uncle met us at about 10:30 and we headed out.

It was Day Camp day at the zoo, but it was still surprisingly empty.  We went through the Children's Zoo's nature trail where teenagers explained animal things to the kids and they got to pet chinchilla fur and pet turtles and snakes and watch rabbits hide in burrows for "nap time".  Then it was over to the petting zoo for ducky feeding and a bit of goat brushing.

But Caroline really wanted to ride the train!  I was surprised she remembered it, as she hadn't mentioned it the last time we went.  There was nobody there and the train was just about to leave, so we had perfect timing with no waiting.

And then we had to get off.  Oh, the meltdowns.  We mollified them with a visit to the snack bar and some chicken strips and fries for lunch.  Luckily, they like birds, so the sea gulls were a draw, too.  But Daniel was not deterred in his mission to return to the train.  Not even getting to go to the "big boy bathroom" to wash his hands with uncle made him forget!  (Caroline pronounced that the "big girl bathroom" was "stinky" and she thought the girls were "messy".)

So we went back to the train, where we had to wait about five minutes. This means the people in front of us had to wait for about five minutes of wailing and teary eyed sobbing from my kids.  As soon as the train pulled in, Daniel and Max threaded their way through the people in front of us to be first in line.  They are lucky they're cute.

Same deal the second time through.  They LOVED the ride and then SCREAMED when it was time to get off.  Uncle dealt with Daniel and Caroline while I tried to lock a flailing Max into the wagon.  It was at the point that he full on punched me in the jaw and I said, "Jesus!" in exasperation that I looked up and saw another family - two adults and one child - just smiling at me knowingly.  And then I couldn't stop laughing.  Poor Uncle had to get them all in the wagon alone because I had stopped breathing I was laughing so hard.

This performance continued all the way to the penguins - we were the rolling zoo exhibit of the Screaming 'Teenies!  And then there were penguins and a rhino (or "dino" as Caroline dubbed it) and everything was forgotten.  Then they wanted to see the lions and tigers.

Caroline was the only one interested in the hippo and she was very excited that we got to see her stick her nose out of the water and open her nostrils for air before submerging again - just as I was explaining how she held her breath under water!

Nobody wanted to leave that area either, so we employed Uncle's trick of "on your marks, get set, go!" They'll go almost anywhere if they think they're racing!  We ran to the river otters, and then through the monkeys to get home.  Max had a meltdown at this point and wanted to see "MORE MONKEYS!" but I carried him and eventually he begged to get back in the wagon.

We'd almost made a clean getaway when Caroline spotted the stuffed animals on the display outside the gift shop.  They have nearly every animal you can imagine, dyed hot pink.  So she started begging, culminating in my adorable child sitting down in the middle of the parking lot, screeching, "I WANT PINK ZEEBA NOW!"

But if you ask them, I'll bet they'd say they had a GREAT time!