"What, Rodney? That sounds horrible!"
He continued: "Enjoy a family picnic and experience our petting zoo with kangaroos, pigs, goats and more, but be sure to remain alert at all times--"
"Rodney. Stop it. That's not what it says."
"It's right here!"
"Okay, well, we're not going there."
Nothing more was said of it and I hoped he was making it up. But he didn't say a thing more about it until we were on our way there. "Are you nervous about the tigers? Oh, by the way, I was just kidding about the deaths we may see."
Of course.
Never a dull moment.
We had burgers and hot dogs at the picnic tables and then led the kids over to the petting zoo. They loved it. They ran all over the fenced in yard, pointing and naming all of the animals, chasing the chickens and petting the pigs. "Good boy!" said Emma. "Pig!" She was all about the petting zoo. Ethan was not as into it. The first thing he pointed out was the wagon that was near the yard.
"Look! A wagon! Wagon, Mom! A wagon!"
"I see it, baby! Did you see the chickens? and the goat? Look over here, Ethan."
He found the big chicken coup and the den with hay inside that I assume was for the pigs. His favorite place. Who cares about the dumb animals. Just let him hang out in the bug infested and crap covered pig pen.
There was also a really cool bridge that he wanted to go over and over. He was having so much fun. "Ethan, come over here and look at the kangaroo!"
"No! Rock!!" Really? A rock is more interesting than a kangaroo?
Rodney and I traded kids now and then so we could both enjoy the animals with Emma and see her excitement at petting and feeding all of the different animals. She wasn't scared a bit by any of them which surprised me. She tends to be timid in new situations, but she was fearless. The alpaca didn't even scare her. She was amazing.
We did manage to get Ethan to pet a few of the animals when he wasn't too busy checking out all of the awesome rocks and structures. Wild horses couldn't drag him away from his tour of the outskirts and objects. He'd collapse and scream if we tried. So we just let him have his way. This trip was supposed to be fun for them, so we weren't about to kill his joy.
When it was time for the safari, we let the kids ride up front with us so they could see better. They were so excited to be out of the car seats. Emma looked out the window at all of the animals, many of which actually were roaming free just feet away from our car. She looked so happy and free, unrestrained and leaning forward, smiling at all of the beautiful and new sights.
Ethan mostly just wanted to push all of the buttons on the dashboard and play with the visor. Rodney let him sit in the driver's seat on his lap. What animals? Beep beep!
Thankfully, the lions and tigers were penned up on the safari and not savagely murdering anyone, but we still got a good look at them. They paced in their pens looking as if they were itching to maul each and every car that passed. We did see one white tiger creep up and then POUNCE toward a squirrel that was on his fence. It was an awesome and ironic sight to see him in his wild domestication, furious and playful. Rodney kept teasing me about the tigers being on the loose and going in for the bloody kill right on our car.
"Uh-oh, hide your eyes, kids. Hit the windshield wipers again, babe."
We laughed about that all day.
