All the parents with babies were laughing at us
Posted by: LizzieSpring Break around these parts happens during Master’s Week. If one doesn’t give a crap about golf (like us!), there are a few options:
- Stay home and avoid all the traffic/tourists/people camped out on the sides of roads with signs that say ‘BADGES WANTED’.
- Risk life and limb to ogle all the nerds with badges who wander around Augusta looking spiffy in their polo shirts and golf pants.
- Go out of town.
We opted for a little of number one and a little of number three. On Tuesday of Master’s Week, we surprised the boys with a trip to the Riverbanks Zoo to celebrate our anniversary and to get out of the house. The last time we went to the zoo as a family, Corey was three and Aiden was a baby! I took Aiden and Simon to the zoo a few years ago with our playgroup, but neither one of them remember because at the time, Aiden was three and Simon was a baby. So it was about time for us to revisit the zoo and see what Simon thought about all those animals.
Like most road trips that we take, this one was not without its trials. We are notorious for having to turn around at least once. Thankfully, we did not accidentally drive to Florence, North Carolina like a friend of mine did on the way back from a choir retreat. No, Jamie and I only missed the exit by about five miles, so we were able to turn around and do some fancy driving to get to the zoo. We both swear there used to be more signs for the zoo along I-20. WE SWEAR!
Parking at the zoo was its own adventure. The overflow parking was backed up to the point where cars had to turn around at the end of a row, creating the biggest cluster-you-know-what in the universe. Add to that a dumb girl in a Toyota who stole a parking spot that we were waiting on, blinker and all, a few hungry kids, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Jamie and I both said some words we should not have in front of the boys. Oops.
When we finally made it inside of the zoo and into the restaurant for lunch, Simon took one look at the map and announced that he wanted to see the penguins. Aiden wanted to see the Elephants, and Corey wanted to see the crocodiles. There was to be a penguin feeding at 3:30, so we decided to save that for last.
In general, the zoo was great. The weather was perfect, the crowds weren’t too large, and the boys were well-behaved. Timothy even slept for a bit while he was snuggled up in the Didymos on my back. Everyone got to see what they wanted, including the new Brown Bears and the baby giraffe. When it came time to head over to the penguins to watch the feeding, we were glad to be getting out of the sun.
The crowd was starting to gather for the penguin feeding and the boys were enjoying watching the penguins as they dove in the water, stood on the rocks, and waddled around in that penguin way they do things. I can’t say I was surprised by what happened next. In fact, I’m surprised we had not witnessed an event of this nature earlier in the day, because nearly every time Jamie and I have been to the zoo, this happens.
So this one penguin was standing on a rock right in the middle of the penguin display when another penguin sauntered up behind it. The penguins then proceeded to do their thing and an uncomfortable murmur spread throughout the not-so-innocent bystanders. Parents exchanged knowing and awkward glances while children squealed. Corey then yelled,
“WHAT ARE THEY DOING???”
As it was, the penguins had some beak action going on, so Jamie was like, “They’re kissing!” I’m glad he jumped in there with an answer because I was pretending I didn’t hear him.
Other parents with even younger children who weren’t asking questions just laughed and laughed. I wanted to point at them and tell them that their time will come. Oh-ho! Their time will come! No longer will trips to the zoo be sweet, innocent fun! No! You’ll see ostriches “wrestling” in the grass and flamingos “fighting” in the water and “kissing” will no longer be an acceptable explanation for bizarre penguin behavior. Yes. YOUR TIME WILL COME.
