Are We There Yet?

Day Two, Let's Head to the Zoo!

Or maybe this should be titled "Day Two, Mommy's LAST Trip to a Zoo!"

Since we were invited along to crash this Travel Group reunion, we went along with the plans made by those who actually belonged there. Unfortunately (to me, anyway), those plans included a trip to the local zoo. Ugghh!

If you've followed this blog for very long, you know very well that I HATE going to the zoo. As my younger sister told my Mom after her first trip to the zoo (when said sister was probably five or six years old), "If you've seen one monkey, you've seen 'em all." Amen, sista! Zoos require a lot of walking up and down hills, in the heat, with lots of disgusting animal smells all around. I get bored very quickly. I thought taking my kids to zoos would reignite some sort of latent, hidden zoo love...nope! My kids get as bored and irritated as I do!

Here we are, in the hotel lobby early in the morning, ready to go...
...and here are the kiddos...
...posing for one last group shot (minus Alex, who was not in a picture posing mood). What a sweet group of kids.

As we were trying to get some pictures of the kids at the zoo, Molly didn't hold back. She wanted a picture with Michelle...but Carson was getting jealous of having to share his sister with these strangers. He headed up to join in the picture...
...and was stopped dead in his tracks. See, in that picture, Molly was yelling, "CARSON...STOP!" He didn't hesitate or question...he stopped. Immediately. He didn't roll his eyes, or stomp his feet in irritation, he just did what Molly demanded. Everybody laughed. I felt a bit bad for my Little Man. Are we raising a little shrew here?! After stopping Carson's intended intrusion...
...we did get a pretty sweet picture of Molly hugging Michelle from behind. These two...
...could be a dangerous duo. Mya and Molly are both adorable little divas, both with their own sense of style. Molly was kind enough...
...to allow Carson and Josh (Michelle's brother) into one shot. Mya's brothers were MIA for that one.

It was about at this point where, gotta admit, I was getting hot and bored. Carson and Molly needed a boost...
...to see over the bushes...
...and watch the elephants get a shower. I was so hot...I wanted to jump in there with those elephants! Ugghhh!! To regain some interest in the day, I just took about a bazillion pictures...
...and I just loved that Bill (Michelle's Daddy) scooped Molly up for a better look at one of the exhibits. It was starting to feel like we were all just one big family! It was about at this point that Josh (Michelle's brother) came to me, very seriously, and said, "I think you should know that Molly just said..."

Right about there, I had to hold my breath. Molly is a bit unpredictable. What DID she say?! Please tell me she didn't swear!

Josh continued: "...that she's not having very much fun."

Oh, that. Not a surprise...she hates the zoo as much as her Mommy does. But thanks for letting me know.

As much as I hate to have my picture taken (especially when I'm grumpy and hot)...
...I made exceptions to get pictures with the Littles. (Meggie -- being as grumpy and hot as I was -- declined to be photographed.) While Molly smiled for this picture with Daddy...
...she then went directly into Demanding Diva mode...
...and refused to have one more minute of fun. Well, OK then!

Watching Carson climb on this jungle gym with no help...
...flashed me back to his first OT visit way back in 2007...
...when Miss Mary, his awesome occupational therapist, had to push him up that ladder. She would be so impressed with how strong the Little Man is now!

Molly did smile a bit...
...when I put her hair up into one big ponytail. Maybe she was grumpy and demanding because her thick hair was making her super hot! Carson, however...
...didn't have the hair excuse. He was just bored and wanted to go back to the hotel. After taking a few more silly pictures, in an attempt to keep the kids interested...
...we gave up. We found Midge and family (we had gotten separated) and let them know we were headed back to the hotel. We finalized plans for meeting for dinner and headed out.

The Demanding Diva...
...earned herself a nap before dinner.

That's it...we are so DONE with zoos! We spent a pretty penny to get our family of five into that very lovely zoo...and the kids were miserable and grumpy all day long! Ugghh...let's just put it on record...invite us to parks, and parties, and dinners, but we will have to decline any future trips to zoos.

You've seen one sweaty and grumpy kid, you've seen 'em all!