A few weeks ago I was trying to think of something fun the girls and I could do. I came up with the idea of an indoor picnic. We laid out a blanket out on the floor in our basement and set up our food. We had fun. Today was a beautiful, warmer day and we needed to get outside, so we decided to go to the zoo, with a picnic. Last year we went to the zoo every other week from May to September. We've never brought a picnic with us.
First I'll say that the zoo was a little different experience this time around. Lily is getting to a better stage of wanting to stop, look at the animals and talk about them. She decided the wolf needed a bed, because the dirt wasn't comfortable. We spent a good 10 minutes with the river otters because we just had to see what those silly guys would do next. Bella is now able to recognize that there are animals around, we aren't just moseying around a circle. She thought the bison was very funny. She got mad when I wouldn't let her chase the wood duck around. Both were excited to see the condor up cleaning his feathers. Who knew that would be entertaining? We stopped to comfort the fake alligator 'stuck' in the leaves. This was super cute too. Lily saw the alligator was stuck and went over to rub his head and said, "It's okay, we're here, we'll take care of you, don't worry, I'm here..." It was so precious. Bella wanted to help, but apparently she wasn't comforting the right way because Lily got upset. (typical these days)
We made our way around the zoo and it came time for the picnic. Now that I'm thinking about it this really was my fault. We decided to sit at a picnic table near the peacock resting on the floor (first mistake). Lily kept calling them turkeys. "No these are peacocks, turkeys are the ones in our yard." A few seconds later I'd hear "Hi little turkey." I decided it wasn't a battle worth fighting. Our lunch was going smoothly. Kids enjoying their food, I got to actually eat. Then Bella had an issue with her raisins and spit them out, so I threw those off to the side (second mistake). Eventually, the peacock realized that there was food near by. He came waltzing over bending his head like a dog does when he's questioning what you have. After eating the raisins, he got extremely close. I think he would have eaten a goldfish out of our hands if we let him. Yea, the 'turkeys' like goldfish. Bella thought this was funny. Lily was curious but scared, standing on top of the picnic table, "hi turkey, don't eat my food". I was scared and what do I do when I'm scared? Apparently, act like a moron. I thought if I throw a fishy across the way maybe he'll go away from us. I know, third mistake. Well he did go away, but came back with two friends. We were surrounded, literally. Lily was upset, Bella was laughing, I was scared. Now because the zoo is still prepping for the busy season, there were trucks around and workers taking care of various things. Now as we are surrounded, a dump truck goes by and honks (great!) this made the peacocks nuts, they started squawking and travel away to see what horrid thing made that noise. Bella and Lily started squawking, I started packing. A few seconds later, it started to rain and the peacocks started back toward us. Lily was upset she wasn't done eating, why is it raining, I don't want to go home, look the turkeys are coming again. I had had enough close encounters at the zoo; it was time to go home.
When we go to the zoo, we get a sticker "Peacock Pal". To get this precious sticker, you have to agree not to chase the peacocks or yell at them. So, I'm all about mother nature, save the animals and all, but I really wanted to kick that peacock. I'm thinking we need to have a talk with these peacocks and get them to wear "People Pal" stickers. Seriously, couldn't they respect our desire to eat among the animals, but not actually with the animals? Silly Peacocks!
