Zoo time

Well, after surviving the perils of international travel during Spring Break, I was more than ready to hang local on our first weekend home.  The weather seemed to be cooperating and I had a hunch that the crowds might be smaller some places because people were tuckered out from all that break-time fun.  I told Nacho I thought it would be a good idea to hit the Bronx Zoo on Saturday since I'd been wanting to take the girls for a while and there were brand new baby gorillas which might make for an interesting visit. It had been over 3 years since our last visit with Elisa and cousin Diego and with our zoo membership thingy, I figured we'd be able to see all of the zoos at least once. I couldn't neglect the biggest of them all.  Of course the girls were up at the crack of dawn like they had been all week. That's one thing about jet lag that you just can't shake. We're still popping awake at 5:50a.m. and some days have been better than others, but anything before it has a 6 in it is just unfair. Lately, we've experimented with turning the TV on, handing each an iPad and some breakfast and going back to bed ourselves. It actually works for at least another hour which is kind of remarkable and somehow completely wrong. Does screen time really count if I'm not awake? These are the burning questions of modern parenthood. But anyway, back to the zoo. It was a lot of fun, and the best part? NO SCREENS! 

Their first camel ride! Woo hoo! And Nacho almost did it without hesitation...almost. 

The girls did a pretty good job of showing interest in the different exhibits and taking turns climbing up on Nacho's shoulders when they needed a lift to get a good peek. In front of the gorillas with the babies, there were lots of people which made it tricky to see them at first. But eventually each exhibit opened up and we tried to be patient.  I held Carolina to point out how the gorilla had her baby in her arms. "Do you see the mama holding her baby?" I asked her.  Then a very excited Carolina shouted, "That's YOU!" which prompted me and a nearby woman to laugh. Okay, sure. That's me. Elisa was definitely enthralled with the animals and the display cases offering lots of reading materials. After our success seeing the gorillas up close, we took our cue from one of the zoo staff and headed towards the newly opened monorail (it was the first day of the season for that).  I think being at the park early really helped us here since we didn't have much wait to get on. The ride was relaxing and a good change of pace for the girls since we could see all the best animals (elephants, tigers, rhinos) from the comfort of our train car.  As we departed the station, the line to get on had grown exponentially and Nacho and I exchanged knowing glances. No, we would not have waited for that otherwise, so I guess we were lucky to have arrived when we did.  Elisa and Carolina spent half of the day pushing and shoving each other before reprimands and hugs.  When they weren't fighting, they were laughing and sharing a stroller, though. It's always hot and cold with these two.  Elisa sounded a bit bored and ungrateful towards the end of the morning, but after lunch we decided to reign it in and make our way back to the entrance.  The gift store tried to lure us in with stuffed animals and other prizes, but I held strong. Not today. Today the fun was about being together and seeing the new animals. And we achieved both. 

Stir Crazy

After a Saturday of near constant rain but milder temps, I was going a little bonkers being indoors.  Truth be told, I think I was having one of those winter funk days where nothing felt right, I just wanted to be somewhere else, and everyone around me was desperately annoying. I even climbed back into bed midmorning and actually got left alone for a change while the girls played and Nacho manned the drink/snack/playdoh-opening stations. It was almost enough to lift the dark cloud.  But still it lingered and the girls being cooped up all day was not helping either.  So by nightfall, I was looking forward to a long sleep and a Sunday full of activity.  But even as we woke and ate breakfast on a clearer day, I wasn't feeling jazzed.  As we slowly got dressed, I could hear the strong winds blowing outside, and for a few minutes thought it might be a nonstarter.  I didn't really know what we were going to do. Elisa asked if we might go to "a park in Manhattan," and I didn't have a reason not to.  Yes, maybe a little visit to the Central Park petting zoo would cheer us up, and we could walk and visit the playground behind it afterwards.  It wasn't city living gold, but what's the saying? "Perfection is the enemy of good." All I needed was good that day. It would do just fine...

We managed to bump into some friends from the neighborhood as we made it to the zoo and that was a nice surprise. But the girls were already showing signs of hunger and crankiness before we'd started, so we hurried through to see the seals and snow monkeys before grabbing a bit of lunch. It wasn't in my plan to sit and get them overpriced hot dogs at the zoo, but it was a necessary evil which bought us more time to enjoy the park afterwards. And really, they did great sitting and eating, and for the first time in a long time, I found myself really relaxing on an outing. Not just surviving it, but finding humor and really engaging them.  Maybe because we never really had a goal for the day, I finally felt at peace. And the weekend that started off so shitty was actually getting better. I suppose we can't always have great days, or even good ones, but sometimes finding a little happiness in the ordinary is all you need. It worked for me on Sunday, and I plan to make it a habit. 

Family Pass

In June I bought a family pass membership to the Wildlife Conservation Society which operates the NY Aquarium and other zoos around the city, and we used it to visit the aquatic life at Coney Island.  Since then we've only used it one other time--to check out the zoo at Central Park in July--but I have a feeling this will come in handy over the next few months. The girls were in a particularly awful mood that day as we started our visit. Elisa was bouncing off the walls running ahead and Carolina wanted nothing to do with the animals. She was shrieking her way through the exhibits and her voice echoed off the walls of the rain forest. I was getting looks from other parents at a zoo, which is when you know you're in trouble. We realized after a few minutes inside that our best bet was to just get out of there quickly and take a walk around. 

 (This is Gus, the beloved polar bear who passed away recently. He was old and tired. Good for him.)

Making a bee line for the seals and then the petting zoo was exactly the right move. We got to liberate the kids from the enclosed spaces, and they were happy to feed and taunt the animals with food pellets. Considering this was Carolina's first time really feeding them, I was amazed at how eager she was and how much she loved their tickley tongues. She managed to pull back her hand a few times because she was laughing so hard, which the goats and sheep didn't really appreciate. But man, was it hilarious to watch. Her whole body seized up in a fit of giggles and big sister Elisa was right there watching and telling her how to do it better. Later we grabbed some ice cream and walked over to the Billy Johnson playground with its enormous slide. The girls loved having turn after turn speeding down it and climbing back to the top. Nacho even helped do a family slide and the girls could't have grinned any bigger. Somehow we salvaged what started off as a rough day, and knowing we had the zoo pass and could leave at anytime without really wasting it was a bonus. I think we'll be using this again soon.