It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Wow, it's lovely today--sunny, mild, not too windy--and this after a wet, foggy night and morning. So, we headed to the zoo.

DD is scared of peacocks. Doesn't like that they roam the zoo freely, doesn't like their caterwaul cry, really doesn't like how they spread their colorful tail feathers and shake them. She talked about the peacocks on the way over. DS tried to comfort her: "The prairie dogs are nice. The otters are nice. The tigers are nice. And they will be happy to see you." This last bit from a new nighttime story we read, Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep. Then DD asked us to please quit talking about peacocks. We did, DS kept telling her that they were nice.

We got to admissions and were given peacock stickers (which are supposed to encourage kids to be nice to the birds). We've gotten them before and have told DD that they actually ward peacocks off. All she need do is wear her sticker and say, "No peacocks!" and she'll be fine. Which she was. Though DP and I have a fine-tuned system worked out as we maneuver the zoo. "12 o'clock, moving to 1, in the trees." "Yep, hey hon, let's go that way instead." Until DS chimed in, "there's a peacock!" But we soon had DD distracted by the tigers. Whew, a close call.

And then the darned turkeys appeared. Fluffing their own tailfeathers. Bother. Hadn't prepared her for turkeys, which aren't usually there. Luckily, otters are very enticing and we got away, albeit with DD in arms.

We heard the peacocks as we left but by then we were safe and she was very proud to have survived the peacocks. Especially because it meant she had ridden the carousel, twice. But she took the sticker off her jacket as soon as we cleared the entrance!