Trip to the Zoo

About a month ago, Lauren invited Dad to join her on her only field trip of the year - a trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo. For those of you who don't know Dad and his experiences with animals, here's a quick recap.

For some reason, Dad doesn't really like animals. It probably stems from his upbringing, when Grandma YD kept him away from dogs, cats and other animals. Because of this, the school field trip that he took to the zoo in second grade (when he was seven) was a very uncomfortable experience. At that time, just to get into the zoo's regular exhibits, you had to pass through a petting zoo. To have video of him tiptoeing past animals and holding his nose as he ran for the exit gate would be priceless footage.

Anyway, from that fateful trip in 1975 to 2002, Dad did not make a single trip to the zoo - as it eventually became a world class animal facility. So when he did return five years ago, a lot had changed - and that darned petting zoo was long gone.

So you can almost imagine Dad's enthusiasm at joining Lauren for her field trip. Combine that with an unseasonably cold day and morning rain showers and you had the perfect combination for one miserable day (for Dad, at least).

But it wasn't that bad. Dad really didn't turn up his nose at any of the animal exhibits and he kind of enjoyed the Kingdoms of the Night and the large aquarium with the sharks, etc. It was also kind of fun to watch some fish get fed.

As for Lauren, she had a ball running around with her cousin, Maya, and two other classmates (pictured above). It may have been her only field trip of the year, but she said it was awfully fun.