Yesterday we went to the Denver Zoo. (Hooray for family memberships!) In preparation we read two gorgeous books from Sylvan Dell Publishing:

• The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights – a tale of a giraffe who’s scared of heights and two of his animal friends who have their own fears to overcome
• Tudley Didn’t Know – the story of a painted turtle who adopts other animals behaviors

(By the way, there are some terrific zoo book suggestions at The Library Lady Rants.)

When we arrived, we planned our visit so we could see the animals we read about in The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights. I had hoped to write about my children’s excitement at seeing some of the animals we had read about like, the hippos, giraffes, and moneys (no Vervet Monkeys at the Denver Zoo though).

Nathan and Lucie enjoyed seeing the animals, but I had to force the connection between the book and the visit. Then there was the meltdown about not riding the train and carousel. And the preoccupation with bathroom anatomy and production – “Elephants don’t poop in the potty, they poop on the ground,” observed Lucie.

It could have been worse. Thank goodness they didn’t pick up on the sexual antics going on in the black crested macaque exhibit. (My husband thought the X-rated story I told him was hilarious. Now he keeps hinting that we should “go upstairs and pretend we’re macaques.” Great.)

I was disappointed that things didn’t work out as planned and my kids weren’t as fired up as I had wished. Yet, it was a wonderful visit and I did get this amazing Narnia-like picture of Lucie and the lion.

(It’s her reflection in the plexiglass, but the lion was only a foot away.)

Then the real adventure began…

As we pulled out of our parking space, the right front tire rod broke and the wheels locked up. We were stuck in the parking structure with no cell phone signal. I walked out with the kids, and made a call to AAA. Two tow trucks were needed – one to get us out of the structure and one to get us to the mechanic’s.

After a hour waiting at the zoo for the tow, a 40 minute drive to the repair shop, and moving the car seats from my car to tow truck to repair shop truck to my husband’s truck, we arrived at home four and a half hours later. Nathan missed art camp, but what a trip! Imagine how Nathan and Lucie saw it:

• We got to ride in a huge tow truck. It looked like Mommy’s car was flying behind us. 
• The town truck driver was bald with tattoos, but really nice and funny.
• We got to see “Uncle” Jimmy (Daddy’s best friend) at his repair shop, HonToy Care.
• Uncle Jimmy drove us to Daddy’s work and we talked about golf, video games, and Mommy’s bad driving.
• We saw Daddy at work and got to ride in his big truck.
• Mommy took us to the post office out for ice cream at Good Times. Yummy!
• Then we picked Daddy up and drove home.

As we got to the post office, a Harley rider commented how much work it was to get get the kids in and out of the truck. After I told him it wasn’t as bad as the rest of our day he said, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.”

Cool animals. Naughty primates. Crazy tow truck drivers. Philosophical bikers. What a journey we had!

Like what you see? Subscribe to My Readable Feast for updates!