Lions and Tigers and Monk...eeks..Oh My!

"Wake Up! " I rolled over. "Wake up Mommy!"  I rolled over again as I must have been dreaming. " Can I get up?" Converse was still asleep. I glanced at the clock. 4:40am. I mumbled, "No one I know would wake up at this hour." Then I remembered....no one would be up this early except for Nike Girl on the day of her annual spring field trip. This year her class was headed for the zoo. I volunteered to help out. Nike Girl was ready to go before the sun could even come up. I was excited too, but I had no problem sleeping through my excitement. Nike Girl was not going back to bed so the day started. Just don't wake the baby quite yet!

Field trips are so exciting. Somehow a smashed sandwich in a baggie smothered in mustard rather than mayo (because all people know mayo will go bad) looks better when you are on a field trip. Let me digress for a moment....does mayo really go bad or is that an urban legend? Come to think of it our family doesn't even eat mayo it is Miracle Whip. What is Miracle Whip? It says it is a salad dressing but would you put Miracle Whip on a salad? I think not. Since I don't really know what Miracle Whip is and mayo reportedly goes bad in a hurry I always stick to mustard. So we packed our mustard sandwiches and water bottles. Lathered on sunscreen and headed out the door for an adventure.

As parent volunteers we were asked to follow the buses with our own cars. Smart thinking, no bumpy rides and no screaming. I turned up the tunes and followed along, and kept driving, singing out loud occasionally, planned supper for that night in my head, thought about life, kept driving.....thought about chocolate, thought about running, kept driving...wait the school bus I had been following was turning to go toward a suburb north of the city. Apply brakes, merge, exit, head back the other direction. I had been following the wrong school bus. So, that is embarassing.  Justified it by saying they are all yellow.
Finally arrive at the zoo with my group of kiddos waiting along with another mom. Let the fun begin!

The girls in our group loved watching the sea lion show, most enjoyed feeding the lorikeets, and everyone enjoyed their "mustard" sandwiches we ate at 10:30 am. We ventured into all parts of the zoo looking at lions, tigers and of course monkeys. Lots of monkeys. The first group of monkeys in the refuge were quite friendly. They swung on the limbs and sat and looked at us. They chased each other around. One cute little fellow even sat on a limb and decided nature was calling. He just couldn't hold it any longer....another monkey, Curious George, started licking up the urine off the adjacent branch.  Move right along girls. No need to take photos here, there are still lots of animals to see. Where are the turtles? Turtles seem to stay out of mischief.

Fast forward a couple hours. The girls were getting tired and decided to stop at yet another monkey exhibit in the cool shade. One little mama monkey came up to the glass and obviously had been nursing babies. Wow that poor mama looked tired. The girls became a little fixated asking lots of questions about the mama monkey. So the other mom was quick on her toes. "Oh girls look at the cute monkey in the tree....eee," she then shouted, "Oh my goodness!" All eyes darted to the boy monkey in the tree who was very well endowed and was swinging "the goods" in the air like a lasso. Quite impressive stupid pet trick. David Letterman would be proud. We both were actually in awe, seconds turned into minutes it seemed. Then one of the little girls yelled, "Oh my goodness, he is playing with his weiner" ....she has older brothers. Nike Girl was just staring eating a gummy worm with her head tilted to the right then the left. She took two steps back and said, " There is a lot to write about at the zoo." Great. The other mom and myself looked at each other and froze for a second. Fight or flight response actually. "Who wants to go to the gift shop?" When in need with girls, throw out the shopping trump card and it will work most everytime. So off we walked speechless as Cowboy Bill continued to impress the crowd that was gathering. I have never ever seen anything quite like that....EVER! and I grew up on a farm for crying out loud.

So there is our adventure, a field trip to remember. Now I am just waiting to get Nike Girl's April journal back. Lions and tigers and Monk...eeks....Oh my!

Peace.
The "New Balance" Girl

Running Report: Bought new shoes to train in. I went with a stability shoe vs. a cushioned shoe. I always buy a size up as your feet swell as you increase your distance. My feet must have grown when I was pregnant. I bought a size 11.5 and they fit. That is funny! This weekend we went on bike rides, played at the park (Weebok loves the slide now) and ran. The temperature was crisp in the morning. Perfect. So I ran 7 while Converse rode his bike along side me. Great time to spend together talking and enjoying all the things God has given us. Usually the girls are with us but Nan and Papa were in town visiting... so nice! It was one of those runs that you could have kept going forever. Plans this week include to start speed training on the treadmill and continue the Shred. I know I have said it before but the Shred with Jillian Michaels really makes a difference in core strength. Love it. Hope you enjoyed your weekend, too!