The Gods Were Smiling

"The gods were smiling on us today," Rick said. There is no better way to explain our great fortune. Our kids had an amazing day at the Granby Zoo. There were nine of us--three adults and six kids. So many things could have gone wrong--traffic, crowds, injury, illness, weather. This adventure was clearly blessed, however, and we had a perfect day.

The weather cooperated for the first time in weeks. We soaked in the sunshine, greedy for it after its long absence. We rented a wagon for all of our stuff, which worked out well, although there were many jokes about just how rag tag we looked. (Picture the Beverly Hillbillies at the zoo.) The kids were especially interested in the petting zoo--Katie loved the goats--and they got a lot of exercise running from one attraction to another. Granby is very kid-friendly, and picnics are allowed, so we hauled in a ton of good snacks, and the kids ate like locusts all day, slurping down drinkable yogurts and chomping down fruit and crackers. (When Katie complained about her belly at the end of the day, nausea wasn't the culprit for once. She had simply eaten too much!) We hit the water park after a late lunch, and there was something for everyone. Katie liked the lazy river best, and the big kids loved the wave pool. Joshua was fearless. He sought out the wildest water and came up grinning each time a wave flattened him. He was equally fearless in the amusement park; he enjoyed the bumper cars, and he was my partner on the ferris wheel, a ride I have always hated and braved only because he was so excited about it. Rick took Katie on the ferris wheel, too, and she waved happily to her audience down below. She smiled all day long.

The kids were very happy to discover that there was ice cream for sale within the amusement park, and they refueled their tanks. It was seven o'clock, and the park was closing. We realized that we hadn't seen any of the African mammals, so we took the long, sneaky way back to the zoo's entrance. We sprinted to the hippo's enclosure. We ran past lions. We had the gorilla's house to ourselves. We missed the giraffes and the elephants, but we did see rhinos and zebras before security came through to shoo us on out. The parking lot was empty when we reached it--just our two cars and some that must have belonged to employees. The park technically closes at seven, but we didn't hit the road until eight. We took advantage of every opportunity to have fun.

In closing, we have to thank the Kings for their company on this adventure. We traveled with six kids ranging in age from two to eleven. This could have been a disaster. (How many fourth graders want to spend the day with a toddler?) Bless their hearts, ALL of the kids were perfectly good: energetic, enthusiastic, and easy going, animated, friendly and funny. I know that both Katie and Josh had more fun at the zoo because they had other kids they really love to play with. What a day!