The Zoo {OR, a post in which I tell the truth}

I do not like the zoo.  My parents never heard, "Can we go to the zoo today?" come out of my mouth.  It smells.  I am not an animal lover.  It's not that I don't like animals, I am just indifferent.  Hopefully that doesn't make me a bad person.  
Now I'm a mom.  With kids who like animals, meaning they like the zoo.  Unfortunately for them, their zoo trips have been few and far between.  As in, Ellie has only been a handful of times and Mary Claire has only been once and that was to the zoo in Orange Beach.  I know, bad mama.  


So when the permission slip for the first grade zoo field trip came home, I had to ponder.  Normally I check YES, I WILL GO ON THE TRIP immediately, but this time I couldn't make the pen move.  In my head I kept hearing, "suck it up! suck it up!"  So I did.  Couldn't bring myself to say no to this precious child.

Then the funniest thing happened.  The day before the trip, I got a phone call from the plastic surgeon's office reminding me of my appointment the next morning.  I got a gift card from my fabulous in-laws for laser hair removal for Christmas, and this was the first appointment I could get.  I'm not going to lie, I really thought about telling Ellie I couldn't go with her (I mean really, it's the zoo).  Then reason kicked in and I called the doctor's office and cancelled my appointment.  The next available one is at the end of June.  (As in, after we get back from the beach, my whole reason for having this, ahem, 'procedure,' done.)  Don't worry, though, I'm on the cancellation list. :)  

When I picked Ellie up from school that same day, the first words out of her mouth were, "Mom!  You know the best part of my field trip tomorrow?  It's that you're coming!"  Seriously, I'm not kidding.  

Okay, back to the zoo.  It really wasn't bad.  I'm not signing up for a zoo membership or anything, but it was a great day.  Ellie's class had TWELVE parents come, so every two parents had three kids to follow around.  Chloe's dad and I literally chased three girls through the entire Birmingham Zoo!

Ellie did a good job faking that she has a terrible mom who doesn't do the zoo.  She walked around like she knew where everything was, but really I could see her soaking it all in.

(Notice how tiny she is!)

At the giraffe exhibit, we had a super-fun surprise when we ran into Mrs. Michelle and her crew.  I'm pretty sure Gracie could have run around with these first graders and been totally fine!

The zoo did not kill me.  I have a little cold, so even the smells weren't bad!  Spending time with my Ellie and her friends is the best!  If you see me at the zoo this summer, don't laugh.  I'm putting it on my list as something to do one day with all of the kids.  I'm hoping Michelle will meet me there so I don't have to pet any animals in the petting zoo or anything...