ZOO!

Yesterday I mentioned that Master Pravus and me went to the zoo to celebrate my birthday!  We both absolutely love animals, so what better outing than a zoo trip?!  I’m really excited about having a year’s membership to the zoo too because it means that we will be able to go to the zoo as much as we want, whenever we want, and I know we will go often.  We’re already going tonight and have plans to go again on Sunday.  The only thing which makes it hard is we cannot go unless it is going to be 75 degrees or less, and we still have to apply sunblock constantly, so we have to keep an eye on the weather.  Still, we will probably use the membership a lot more in the autumn and winter months as the zoo is open year round.  YAY!

That morning, as I was getting dressed, I noticed a card that said “Mommy” on the front.  Applepig was holding it, but he told me it wasn’t from him.  Bizarre.  It wound up being a card from Serenade!  I’ve never gotten a card from Serenade for Mother’s Day, but this one was just too cute and perfect.  It had a picture of a kitten on the front, all wet and covered in soap bubbles, and it said “Bath time isn’t as fun without you!  Love, Serenade”.  I couldn’t help smiling, because Serenade is always with me whenever I take a bath.  She will either lay on the towel that I put on the floor for myself when I get out, or she will sit on the toilet and nap while she waits for me.  It was so cute that it was just unreal.  Thank you Serenade.  <3

The zoo trip was already a bit fraught with some minor physical issues.  The Friday before the trip (which was this past Sunday), I had the worst POTS “episode” that I have had in my life thus far.  It was very scary, and we weren’t really sure if the zoo was going to be the best option.  Master Pravus decided we could go, but he did keep a really close watch on me to make sure I was okay, and he bought me some salty popcorn and made sure I had a constant supply of ice water.

That morning, we woke up somewhat early (8AM), and he took me out to IHop for breakfast.  =^^=  We know one of the waitresses there, and she’s super sweet to us.  We filled up our tummies with noms and then we headed over to the zoo.  That’s where things started to get insane.  See, everything was going great until we started to get close.  Then, there were so many cars that we were nearly stopped in traffic.  It was suddenly bumper to bumper, and it took nearly an hour before we were anywhere close to the zoo.  Master Pravus had me jump out, and had me buy our membership to the zoo while he went looking for a parking space. 

The plan was for him either to come back after he was done, or to drive by with the car and pick me up once I was done.  The line to get into the zoo was insane, but lucky, the membership line was tiny.  I got in and out in no time at all, and I think I only waited fifteen or twenty minutes for Master Pravus to come walking along.  Not too bad at all, and I was beyond thrilled to see him. 

Apparently, not only was it free Science Museum day (which is right next door), but there was also some kind of race going on, and all of the racers were allowed to get in to the zoo for free.  Oh, and, if that wasn’t enough: it was Mother’s Day.  Even the zoo staff mentioned that it isn’t normally this busy on Mother’s Day, so we just may have picked a bad day to come.  Oh well.  The only part which was awful was the parking.  The zoo was so huge that we didn’t feel too crowded too often.

It shocks me that we didn’t get to see even a third of the animals they have, but I wasn’t able to handle the weather as long as I had hoped.  Master Pravus bought me a tiger umbrella to use as a parasol.  OMG, you guys – it had ears!

How awesome is that?  Pretty awesome.  We saw:  lions, tigers, and bears (no really)!  The bear area was really cool because there were so many!  I felt a little sorry for the polar bear.  It was a hot day for someone who likes ice and chasing penguins. (Okay, okay, there’s not really any penguins near polar bears! You got me!)

I know that bears are wild, and wanting to snuggle them is not a good plan, but look at that sweet face?  He wouldn’t hurt me right?  (That’s why Master Pravus has to come.  To prevent me from getting into places I shouldn’t in an effort to hug every animal there is!)  Ha ha.  I think it was the grizzle bears who were in heat.  We didn’t get to see them mating (though the sign said you might get a glimpse of bear mating, maybe next time!) but they were very active, and the male was very aggressive.  It was really cool.

Did I mention there were giraffes?  Because there were!  My goodness they are super pretty.  I loved watching them.  They had a huge open area to hang around in and they had a special feeder which made it hard for them to get their food, which prevents boredom.  It was fun watching them.

There was a really cool “tropical” house which had all sorts of reptiles, fish, and a couple of animals too.  It was extra hot and extra humid in there, so we only made it through about half of the house before I started to get a little faint-y, but Master Pravus reminded me we can always go back not only when I’m feeling better, but in the winter or autumn it’ll be really nice to get out from the cold and into the tropical house.

A rattler!  We saw him in the the tropical section.  I have been a bit nervous about rattle snakes because there is a sign by one of our favorite hiking trails now, with a warning about rattle snakes.  I would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t a little nervous.  I know that for the most part if you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you, but still, I don’t want to be bitten by one, and I’ve been hyper vigilant.  Anyway, seeing this guy sitting in his little enclosure made me realize how harmless they (generally) are.

“Where’s his rattle?”  I asked Master Pravus.

“Probably tucked up under him.  See, he’s a nice little snakey.”

And, that’s when I realized that rattle snakes should be the official age play animal.  ‘Cause, you know, they have a rattle on them at all times?  Not that you should go snuggling one, but – yeah.  And there were kids banging on his glass (that’s what happens during busy days, I guess), and he was sitting there, minding his own business, not even bringing out his rattle or getting aggressive.  #TeamSnakie

So, I’m not going to post a picture of all the animals, (we got lots of shots), but those are some of the best.  🙂  At the end of the day, we stopped off at one of the little places to eat in the zoo and we got some food.  Then, we headed over to the Science Museum.  It was free that day, after all.

If you look really close, there’s a kitty peeking out from under the dinosaur in the zoo parking lot!  😉  We didn’t stay at the Science Museum very long because I wasn’t feeling well and kept getting very lightheaded, but it was still really cool to even briefly go in and look around.  It had a lot of things and we’re sure we’d like to go back another day when we’re feeling more energetic.

The sun really took a lot out of me that day, and even though we applied sunblock before we left the house, once we arrived, once in the middle of our stay, and right before we left, I still wound up with a couple of minor burns.  Total zoo time?  Less than two and a half hours.  -.-  But there will be other days and I look forward to seeing all the other cool animals.

Thank you for bringing me to the zoo, Master Pravus!  It was lovely, and I had a great time.  <3 <3 <3