Crazy-Amazing Zoo Day
With high hopes and a packed lunch, we loaded into the car early in the morning.
As I thought back over the events of the day this evening, I thought, there are really two ways to tell this story.
We left home with 15 extra minutes of fudge time. After following the zoo's not-so-great directions, I made a wrong turn, had to turn around in some Monroeville mega-traffic, then we wound around unfamiliar roads for a while. A sweaty-palmed, white-knuckle ride if ever I've had one. We finally pulled into the zoo 15 minutes late.
The weather was gorgeous this morning. I arrived 15 minutes late to the zoo, but my sis-in-law was patient with me because I often get lost.
We arrived amidst multiple field trips - a bazillion kids were everywhere. I immediately became super-conscious of the possibility of losing my kids. We trekked through the zoo, various animals missing or difficult to see due to the large crowds. After what seemed like miles of walking, we pulled over near the monkeys for lunch. Construction vehicles provided our al fresco ambiance and some dust clouds that hovered over our tables.
We had to wait until crowds passed, but we saw some amazing sights: a rhinoceros as up-close and personal as I'd ever seen one, a monkey that
played with the children through his glass enclosure, and sea otters
that interacted with the children, too. I've never seen zoo animals
behave that way! Oh - and we saw an elephant calf with its' mama. Ultra cool. We were able to spend extra time in the aquarium, just
watching the seahorses or the jellyfish for minutes on end. I pondered
the intricate design God had given each one of them. My kids are
finally old enough to enjoy these creatures. "Mom, you have to see
this!!" echoed throughout the halls. What a neat time of life I am in
right now! 
After winding through the aquarium, we allowed the kids to play at Kid's Kingdom and were having a great time until my son launched into an asthma attack. When I wasn't there. My sis-in-law rushed all the kids to where I was (taking Kylie to the bathroom) and asked the nearest zoo employee to call for emergency medical help. I didn't bring his breathing machine - where could I have plugged it in? I felt so inadequate! But...
My sister-in-law was awesome today! Not only did she endeavor to help my weepy, feeling left-out daughter touch her first sting ray, but she also rushed my son through the zoo to me when he was having an asthma attack. She located emergency help and they were there in minutes. I am so blessed to have her in my life! And the zoo staff was amazing - they came running with their big orange tackle boxes, quickly set up an oxygen treatment, then carefully and intently took care of my son until he was back to normal. I wasn't sure what to do, but God put people in my life at that very moment who took care of us. Amazing!
We returned home in super-crazy construction traffic.
Instead of focusing on the horrible traffic and the people who tried to cut me off, I decided to be thankful for my vehicle which dependably gets us from point A to point B. And relatively smooth and well-kept roads, despite the umpteen zillion traffic cones and signs that are set up on every road I travel.
I could complain about having to take my son to the doctor after a long day, but instead I have decided to be thankful that I could contact my child's doctor and be seen within an hour or two of my call. I could bellyache about having to wait in the exam room long enough for my kids and I to start going a little crazy. Instead, I am grateful to have such well-trained medical staff well-versed in childhood asthma treatments.
I wanted to nothing more than to go home after all this, but I made one last stop at Walmart to pick up allergy medicine and a few necessities before returning home at 7:30. Having dinner that late and trying to get the kids ready for bed quickly could have been a pain, but considering all that went on during the day, I count my blessings...
and thank God that we live in the good ole' U.S.A.!
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