Zoo, and Wario
Apr. 19th, 2004 01:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
terryclothSo, today we were planning to do two things: First, to visit the Book Fair (a library sale), and second to go to the Zoo. Or the Aquarium, or something. Since I was likely to be the person getting up latest (the baby wakes everyone up at 7am, apparently), I hurried to get over to my sister's by 10. I was hoping for 9:30, but my bowels didn't cooperate.
Of course, me getting there didn't really serve as as much of a trigger to go do things as I might have hoped, and it was noon before we even talked about leaving the house. The baby, of course, couldn't be left alone, but also couldn't be left with just Alex because he'd get hungry and need to nurse, unless they'd prepared a bottle of milk, which was a lengthy, delicate ritual that couldn't be done in advance, because breast milk goes sour within a few minutes of heating it. Also, the baby needed to play, or sleep, I don't remember which...
We didn't end up getting to the book sale. We did go to the zoo, though, eventually. I think we got there around 1pm. Once we were there, it went pretty well, although there were some disappointments. The otters were sleeping by the time we got over to their exhibit, and the fisher exhibit was replaced by a sign reading 'no animals in this exhibit'.
But the tigers were very active, and the assorted bears were visible, and the giraffes were turning various northwest flora into savannah-style flat-bottomed trees, and the komodo dragon wanted to eat the baby.
The dragon and the baby were definately on the same page -- while us adults giggled and watched, the giant lizard walked right up to the glass and pressed his face against it, inches from Stevie, who was making nervous noises, and finally screaming in terror (at which point Alex pulled him back away). They were both sure that the glass was just a temporary measure...
Aside from wanting to eat the baby, the komodo dragon was remarkable for looking a lot like a person in a rubber suit -- it had creepily human-style eyes, and impressive biceps, just like Trogdor.
We had lunch at the zoo, which was a bit overpriced (not the food so much as the drinks -- sechuan chicken dinner $5.50, medium pop $3.75) but okay. Lots of chili powder in their chinese food -- it tasted more like chili mac, really. But chili mac is good. Alex bought a huge ice cream cone, because the marginal cost of adding additional scoops was so low, and shared it with everyone.
We ended with a trip to the zoo store, where I got a few chachkas. I badly misjudged when mom et al were ready to leave, though, and headed to the counter to buy my things only fifteen minutes after the store's nominal closing time, which left me wandering nervously around the store with a bag of stuff trying not to look like a shoplifter, since sitting by the door waiting for the others got old after ten minutes or so.
After more time at home playing with the baby, we had garden burgers for dinner, then Alex rented Wario Party (or whatever it's called) and we played a bunch of that, unlocking all the multiplayer games, most of which were fun. We played the turtles the most, and the stupid card game the least. Mom was at a disadvantage because she hadn't been able to get past the cabbie level in the original Wario Ware, and so hadn't run into a lot of the microgames that the rest of us knew.
We played that until late at night, when everyone was tired. Overall, I'd say it was a pretty good day today -- certainly better than yesterday.
Mom's flying back to Toledo tomorrow morning, so it'll be another few months before I see her again.
Of course, me getting there didn't really serve as as much of a trigger to go do things as I might have hoped, and it was noon before we even talked about leaving the house. The baby, of course, couldn't be left alone, but also couldn't be left with just Alex because he'd get hungry and need to nurse, unless they'd prepared a bottle of milk, which was a lengthy, delicate ritual that couldn't be done in advance, because breast milk goes sour within a few minutes of heating it. Also, the baby needed to play, or sleep, I don't remember which...
We didn't end up getting to the book sale. We did go to the zoo, though, eventually. I think we got there around 1pm. Once we were there, it went pretty well, although there were some disappointments. The otters were sleeping by the time we got over to their exhibit, and the fisher exhibit was replaced by a sign reading 'no animals in this exhibit'.
But the tigers were very active, and the assorted bears were visible, and the giraffes were turning various northwest flora into savannah-style flat-bottomed trees, and the komodo dragon wanted to eat the baby.
The dragon and the baby were definately on the same page -- while us adults giggled and watched, the giant lizard walked right up to the glass and pressed his face against it, inches from Stevie, who was making nervous noises, and finally screaming in terror (at which point Alex pulled him back away). They were both sure that the glass was just a temporary measure...
Aside from wanting to eat the baby, the komodo dragon was remarkable for looking a lot like a person in a rubber suit -- it had creepily human-style eyes, and impressive biceps, just like Trogdor.
We had lunch at the zoo, which was a bit overpriced (not the food so much as the drinks -- sechuan chicken dinner $5.50, medium pop $3.75) but okay. Lots of chili powder in their chinese food -- it tasted more like chili mac, really. But chili mac is good. Alex bought a huge ice cream cone, because the marginal cost of adding additional scoops was so low, and shared it with everyone.
We ended with a trip to the zoo store, where I got a few chachkas. I badly misjudged when mom et al were ready to leave, though, and headed to the counter to buy my things only fifteen minutes after the store's nominal closing time, which left me wandering nervously around the store with a bag of stuff trying not to look like a shoplifter, since sitting by the door waiting for the others got old after ten minutes or so.
After more time at home playing with the baby, we had garden burgers for dinner, then Alex rented Wario Party (or whatever it's called) and we played a bunch of that, unlocking all the multiplayer games, most of which were fun. We played the turtles the most, and the stupid card game the least. Mom was at a disadvantage because she hadn't been able to get past the cabbie level in the original Wario Ware, and so hadn't run into a lot of the microgames that the rest of us knew.
We played that until late at night, when everyone was tired. Overall, I'd say it was a pretty good day today -- certainly better than yesterday.
Mom's flying back to Toledo tomorrow morning, so it'll be another few months before I see her again.
