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Tuesday was supposed to be my first day off--a real one! School's done for me but my sons still have class, meaning I'd have some nice alone time to unwind a bit.
And then Mackie said, "Daddy, can you go on the zoo trip with me? I would really like it. Please?"
The zoo trip is the annual kindergarten field trip to the Toledo Zoo. Fortis has no buses, so transportation is all handled by parents. You drive your own child and one or two others whose parents can't go.
I couldn't tell him no. And so Tuesday I got up at 6:30 and got the boys ready for school. Drove them over and went in to join the field trip group. The teacher told me I was "assigned" another boy named S---. "He has a speech impediment," the teacher said, "which makes him hard to understand, but--"
"I'm used to it," I said.
I should add it was raining heavily, but the forecast called for it to stop by late morning. I gave Mackie a small collapsible umbrella, which he thought was pretty cool, but I had to take it away from him when he started brandishing it like a pirate sword.
We drove to Toledo, which took just under an hour in the rain. Just as we arrived, the rain let up. It was a bit chilly, and I hadn't brought a jacket for me or Maksim. Nothing for it but to hope. I had with me the digital camera, my wallet, a small cooler with lunch in it, and two umbrellas--quite the load!
The class all met at the prearranged spot by a set of panda statues, and the teacher arranged for the tickets. Everyone went in, and we scattered. It wasn't a "stay with this group" sort of thing--you stayed with whoever drove you, so it was me, Maksim, and S--- for the day. I decided to rent a wagon to put the stuff in. Mackie and S--- wanted to ride in it, but I forebore.
"You're big kids and don't need to ride. I'm not going to pull you all day," I said.
The weather cleared right about then. It remained partly sunny all day, meaning it never got overly hot and we didn't even have to bother with sunscreen. It was perfect zoo weather.
And off we went. We saw the various zoo thingies. Mackie thought the hippos and the polar bears and the seals were splendid, especially since he could watch them swim in an aquarium-like setting that let him see underwater. The enormous fish in the aquarium were also pretty cool for him, too. The aviary was of middling interest. The wolves were not at all interesting. The gorillas were great, but the smaller monkeys were dull. You never know what's going to interest a six-year-old.
We also rode the safari train, which both boys liked very much.
A couple of times the boys claimed they were getting tired and begged to ride in the wagon, and my response was always to pull over and sit on a bench. "We can rest for a minute if you're tired," I said. Both boys invariably sat for about thirty seconds, and then dashed off to get a drink, play tag, or chase birds. At one point, they howled that they were really, really tired and =please= could they ride? And then we came across a playground in the middle of the zoo, and they rushed off the swing and run and scream and climb.
Finally, after we'd seen the butterfly house and I saw they were dragging their feet and weren't running ahead anymore. Their chatter had slowed considerably. We also needed to get to the other side of the zoo quickly. So then I finally let them ride in the wagon. Rapture!
More animals were visited at the zoo entrance, where there's a little side zoo, and then it was time to leave. I dropped off the wagon and off we went. About ten minutes into the drive, both boys fell asleep. Mackie didn't even wake up when we arrived at Fortis and I dropped off S--. Kala had picked up Sasha and Aran, so I took Mackie home.
And then Mackie said, "Daddy, can you go on the zoo trip with me? I would really like it. Please?"
The zoo trip is the annual kindergarten field trip to the Toledo Zoo. Fortis has no buses, so transportation is all handled by parents. You drive your own child and one or two others whose parents can't go.
I couldn't tell him no. And so Tuesday I got up at 6:30 and got the boys ready for school. Drove them over and went in to join the field trip group. The teacher told me I was "assigned" another boy named S---. "He has a speech impediment," the teacher said, "which makes him hard to understand, but--"
"I'm used to it," I said.
I should add it was raining heavily, but the forecast called for it to stop by late morning. I gave Mackie a small collapsible umbrella, which he thought was pretty cool, but I had to take it away from him when he started brandishing it like a pirate sword.
We drove to Toledo, which took just under an hour in the rain. Just as we arrived, the rain let up. It was a bit chilly, and I hadn't brought a jacket for me or Maksim. Nothing for it but to hope. I had with me the digital camera, my wallet, a small cooler with lunch in it, and two umbrellas--quite the load!
The class all met at the prearranged spot by a set of panda statues, and the teacher arranged for the tickets. Everyone went in, and we scattered. It wasn't a "stay with this group" sort of thing--you stayed with whoever drove you, so it was me, Maksim, and S--- for the day. I decided to rent a wagon to put the stuff in. Mackie and S--- wanted to ride in it, but I forebore.
"You're big kids and don't need to ride. I'm not going to pull you all day," I said.
The weather cleared right about then. It remained partly sunny all day, meaning it never got overly hot and we didn't even have to bother with sunscreen. It was perfect zoo weather.
And off we went. We saw the various zoo thingies. Mackie thought the hippos and the polar bears and the seals were splendid, especially since he could watch them swim in an aquarium-like setting that let him see underwater. The enormous fish in the aquarium were also pretty cool for him, too. The aviary was of middling interest. The wolves were not at all interesting. The gorillas were great, but the smaller monkeys were dull. You never know what's going to interest a six-year-old.
We also rode the safari train, which both boys liked very much.
A couple of times the boys claimed they were getting tired and begged to ride in the wagon, and my response was always to pull over and sit on a bench. "We can rest for a minute if you're tired," I said. Both boys invariably sat for about thirty seconds, and then dashed off to get a drink, play tag, or chase birds. At one point, they howled that they were really, really tired and =please= could they ride? And then we came across a playground in the middle of the zoo, and they rushed off the swing and run and scream and climb.
Finally, after we'd seen the butterfly house and I saw they were dragging their feet and weren't running ahead anymore. Their chatter had slowed considerably. We also needed to get to the other side of the zoo quickly. So then I finally let them ride in the wagon. Rapture!
More animals were visited at the zoo entrance, where there's a little side zoo, and then it was time to leave. I dropped off the wagon and off we went. About ten minutes into the drive, both boys fell asleep. Mackie didn't even wake up when we arrived at Fortis and I dropped off S--. Kala had picked up Sasha and Aran, so I took Mackie home.
