This Place is a Zoo

You might find this a bit ironic, I did. I went to the zoo on my day off from work.

The first step in going to the zoo is making the preparations for the trip to Indianapolis. I loaded up some animal crackers, a drink, a new Thomas the Train book and a blanket. I'm not sure why this not too well known Law of Physics applies, but it does: whenever Aden is hot, I'm cold, whenever Aden is cold, I'm hot. Driving east to Indy in the morning, I had the sun baking my windshield and me, while he was nice and cool in his car seat in the back, so I brought him a blanket.

Aden was noticeably excited about going to the zoo and kept asking me on the way to the zoo if we would see any zebras, if we would see any bears, if we would see any chickens....chickens? By golly we did, there are several different types of chickens at the zoo and roosters too. The trip to Indy was a genuine treat for me because Aden talked almost all of the way. Sometimes he would ask me questions about the zoo and then other times he would lecture me about giraffes and elephants. Somehow he had become quite the expert on giraffes and elephants over the past 3 ½ years.

Parking at the zoo was relatively easy and it looked like we were arriving at a good time due to the scarcity of vehicles in the parking lot. Obviously thousands of people carpooled, because the lines for admission were approaching 5-10 miles long. I don't even think about which line to select anymore because no matter which I choose, it will be the slowest. On this day every line was pretty much a static display and one could only assume that each person was being subjected to a complete background investigation and a full body search prior to admission. When we finally reached the admissions gate, I said "one adult and one child and tickets for the Dolphin Show, please" and the young gal said $23 dollars. I gave her $23 and we were in. I couldn't help wondering what took so long for those other people ahead of us. I'll give you a hint, they were using credit cards.

Once you get into the Indy Zoo you realize, hey, I'm at the world's largest assemblage of strollers. I have never been confronted with more inconsiderate people in one place than these zoo people with strollers. I would have just as soon had to face down 3 or 4 rabid porcupines in a dark alley. These folks paid no attention to where they were going and they could have cared less if they clipped your ankles or steamrollered the few kids who were actually getting some exercise. Whenever you got to an exhibit window, these folks lined their strollers all around so no one could get close...no one but Aden. I told him to go ahead and get through to the windows and he did. I hung back and took pictures and occasionally loosened a nut on a stroller wheel. This Zoo really needs some stroller police.

Don't get me wrong, we had a great time and moved along at whatever pace he felt like going at the time. Sometimes I would ask him if he was ready to go see the bears or the penguins or something else and if he was ready we would take off and go, but if he wasn't we'd just stay until he was ready. We spent 6 wonderful hours at the zoo and I'll remember it forever. It also brought back some great memories of taking Matt to the zoo in El Paso about 30 years ago. I can still recall the look on Matt's face when a peacock began eating his snow cone.

We fed the giraffe...well, actually I fed the giraffe because Aden got startled when the giraffe's tongue hit his hand and he dropped the chunk of whatever it was we were trying to feed it and then refused to do it. That's ok; it was my first giraffe feeding experience. We also played with a frisky walrus that appeared to be trying to bite my finger every time that I pecked on the glass. Aden didn't want to stop doing that for quite awhile, but he didn't want to peck the glass. He didn't want to pet the sharks either...but neither did Poppy.

The Indy Zoo has a couple of trains...oh boy, we love trains and we rode them and then we rode the merry-go-round. The Zoo also has a playground and Aden wanted to play, so Aden played and Poppy just rested and took pictures. I did slide down the firemen's pole once before we left, but that was only after I saw another slightly overweight gentleman do the same thing and I was fairly sure that it wouldn't buckle.

After a decent stint at the playground, I could tell that fatigue was beginning to set in on young master Aden, so I asked if he was ready to go home. Surprisingly, he said yes, so we headed for the gate. He kept moving slower and slower until finally he moseyed to the edge of the path and sat down. When I asked him what was wrong, he just said, "I'm tired." I picked him up and we lit out for the car. Within minutes the young lad was asleep and poor old Poppy was still trudging along inside the park...I'd guess at least 7 or 8 miles from the parking lot. I look back on it and still wonder how I made it to the car. This was nothing short of a Herculean effort by the old fat boy from Bloomfield. I kept thinking, as I trudged along, that we might wind up like Marlon Brando and his grandson in the Godfather. At one point I considered stealing a stroller.

Of course once we got there, he woke up and wanted to get some of the play animals that I had bought him. So I unwrapped a couple, got him in his car seat and headed for home. He was asleep before we exited the parking lot.

There are a lot of nice exhibits at this zoo and the place is well maintained. My recommendation for the Indy Zoo is this; it is a good zoo for kids similar to Aden's age, probably good for a range of 2 to 7 years. If your kids are older than that, I'd recommend going to St. Louis or San Diego, if you have sufficient time and money. If they are younger than two, wait until they get older, but if you have to take them, get a backpack and carry them. It is a lot better exercise than pushing a stroller.

Our next trip comes this Friday, but this will be a sad one for old Poppy because I'm taking him home to his Mom again.