Zoo Week

Z Week at last! We made it through the alphabet, just 2 weeks before kindergarten starts! (Now I have to figure out themes for the last two weeks, but it's fine, whatever.) I had been looking forward to Z week ever since I came up with the idea of running through the alphabet, way last winter, because I'd never been to the Denver Zoo.

On Monday we got a lot of books out of the library about zoos.

I thought the twins would get tired of reading about the zoo, but they didn't. Favorites were I'm in the Zoo, Too! (about a squirrel named Burl who lives in the zoo, but is not in the zoo), The Dumb Bunnies go to the Zoo (too dumb to be described), and Felicity Floo Visits the Zoo (about a little girl who goes to the zoo with a bad cold and infects all the animals).

I intended to make sugar cookies in zoo animal shapes, get out all their stuffed animals and make a pretend zoo, and do other z-related activities, but we didn't. Still, Zoo Day (Friday) was coming, and nothing was going to stop us from going.

Except a near disaster. On Friday the twins and I were up early (not early by anyone else's standards, but early for us). After breakfast they ran outside to play with their water pistols in the front yard, while I stayed inside to drink my tea and read the paper. "DON'T go any farther than the neighbor's house," I warned them, as this has become an issue. "DON'T go down to the school." (There's a preschool/daycare a couple doors down from us, which is an attraction.) They promised.

Maybe 10 minutes later I heard voices -- the twins' and others. I picked up my mug of tea and went to the front door. A pick-up truck was stopped in the middle of the street, and the men in it were speaking to the twins, who were on our driveway. Were the twins about to be abducted? In broad daylight, with people all around? I opened the door and went out as the truck drove away. I called to the twins, but they wouldn't come. Then a woman came down the street, holding a child who she was probably dropping off at daycare. "They were running back and forth across the street," she called to me, obviously upset. "Not paying any attention to cars. They could have been killed."

I thanked her, and chased the twins inside, where I confiscated the water pistols for the duration and we had a VERY serious talk about not going in the street. I know, I'm an idiot, but I actually thought they wouldn't do that. We've gone over and over it with them, and they routinely come in to tell us that a ball has rolled in the street and could we get it for them, etc. Sigh. Never trust a five-year-old. My days of drinking tea inside while they play outside are over.

After that bad start I was ready to cancel the zoo trip, but Rocket Boy (who finally got up) convinced me that it would be worse to stay home. So we got a very late start, but we did get there, a few minutes after noon (I'd been hoping for 10 am). And we stayed until nearly 4:30. Quite a day.

Some highlights...

The zoo has a very nice carousel, which of course we rode (Rocket Boy abstained). For the first time ever, Baby A rode an animal (a lion), though it was a non-moving one. Baby B bravely rode a moving tapir.

My children forever mystify me. When we looked at Monkey Island, I tried to get them to pay attention to the MONKEYS, like these:

but they were not remotely interested. They wanted me to look at the moat that surrounded the island, where the water flowed in, and the dead fish they discovered in the water.

In general, we had trouble getting them to look at animals. Only very large, and/or very noisy animals captured their attention, such as these grizzly bears:

and the gorillas:

and the elephants:

 and a male peacock trying desperately to interest a female:

 

One funny exchange occurred when we were looking at the Clouded Leopards while the twins played on this log in front of the cage.

There was a volunteer standing nearby (you can just barely see a bit of her), and she really wanted to tell us about the leopards. Baby A at one point stood up on the log and shouted "What do the leopards eat?"

"Little boys," the volunteer said, eyes twinkling. Baby A's eyes got wide. Then she asked if we had a pet at home and we said we had a cat and she said the leopards eat leopard food just like our cat eats cat food, but that on Mondays, they give them BONES. 

"Pie Bear has diabetes," Baby B told her sadly, but before I could explain what he meant, another group diverted her attention.

"Mommy, can we come to the zoo on Monday?" Baby A asked me, hopefully.

I thought about the $50 admission cost for our family of four. "No," I said. "Maybe some Monday next summer."

"Every Monday!" the twins began to shout.

 I was just so glad we got to go at all.