LLGA and Charlie-boy hacked much of the night...such that I gave up the notion of rest and showered at 4 a.m. Then I tried to snatch a few seconds of rest and kept pushing back the snooze button (er, if the snooze button was a kitchen oven timer) until 6:38 A.M. -- LATE!
It was a little slice of chaos getting everyone up, fed, medicated, slathered in sunscreen, clothed, and marching in the same direction by 8:30 A.M. It was certainly *not* quiet and orderly.
Tim's companion arrived promptly at 8:30 and agreed to take him to Mass and brunch. (They ended up eating at Denny's and walking along the boardwalk for about an hour after brunch).
Meanwhile, the rest of us were hurtling up the I-15 to the Wild Animal Park.
Charlie was totally excited about "going on a safari", although there was a lot of fretting by GMK about whether his bucket hat would be sacrificed to the water gods (as occurred on his Sea World adventure with the Combat Crab this December).
We -- as a group of 10 -- were EARLY. Read it, Know it, Be Impressed About it.
This earliness left us time to wander and take random photographs. Some even went into a nearby aviary.
We met our tour guide and were whisked out to the parking lot (to Charlie's momentary consternation...what about the safari?) as Jack said in his trademark stage-whisper, "Mom, this is so cool...it's like we're RICH!"
We climbed aboard a canopied "stretch-limo" golf cart.
The J-crabs could hardly contain their excitement at the opportunity to sit in the rear, backward-facing seat.
They proceeded to call the cart the "party bus". At one point, they channeled their inner Darrin, and exclaimed "Raise the roof, bring in the disco ball, let's get this party bus started". Another proud moment for Ma Crab. Better yet, about 2 hours into the tour, Jack mentioned that "Technically speaking, it isn't a party without me." "It all becomes clear now," I thought.
We were treated to behind-the-scenes of the African elephant exhibit, and saw the 2-week-old from a unique vantage point with no elbowing of other visitors required.
Above, Jamie (orange knapsack) and Charlie peek at the elephant -- before we circled around and got to see "Moose", a young bull, begging for attention.
J-crabs with their Great-Grandma Mary and Grandma Mary Kay (who's pretty great to them, too).
We toured the okapi quarters and got within a couple of feet from this magnificent and gentle creature. (CQ couldn't manage LLGA, C-boy, and the camera -- hopefully, APT got a couple snapshots). We had a personalized driving tour of the large exhibits with the opportunity to ask questions throughout.
And we got to meet a couple "animal ambassadors" -- a desert/leopard tortoise and a bearded dragon/lizard.
Note LLGA's proximity to them.
Here are the J-crabs sitting on the "embassy" bench.Oh, and touch them. Charlie, too. And Lucy looked like she'd like to touch, too!
Doesn't Lucy look just as entranced as the big guys?
Truly, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the crablets.
Btw, Charlie was so darn cute. He wore a pair of binoculars and would look through them appropriately (and then lick them, completely inappropriately) and he had a park map rolled and stuck into his shorts pocket that he would refer to as he said, "Let's drive!"
Charlie even grabbed the camera to take a picture of one of the animal ambassadors. Best of all, there were plentiful steel animals (i.e., heavy equipment).
Habitat: Parking Lot.
Habitat: Elephant Enclosure.
Habitat: "Behind-the-Scenes".
The Crab Queen was intrigued by another type of transport: the Segway (segue) Tour.
A photo of She Who Made the VIP Tour Possible:
Great idea spectacularly executed. Thank you, APT!One notable aspect for what did NOT occur: Charlie wore a bucket-hat into the park and wore a bucket-hat out of the park, despite the numerous water bodies we happened upon.
Having held the 23 pound, 8.6 ounce girl and corralled the 48 pound boy for several hours -- not to mention needing to relieve the babysitter, the 2 youngest crablets and I departed the park for home.
CQ Note: With this type of daily upper-body work-out, I remain utterly perplexed that my arms are not toned and taut.
Another notable aspect for what did NOT occur: Mercifully, LLGA did not engage in her latest favorite activity (one not endorsed by Parker or Lola, baby's favorite activity buddies allegedly): howling in the car seat. Miracle of miracles.
Spent a couple of hours recuperating and restoring the house from the frenzy of our departure and, alert the media, burning a CD of the trip's photos for APT. (Combat Crab, be afraid, very afraid that I am overcoming my Mac-phobia). Our evening sitter arrived at 4:30 and GMK, APT, Grandma, and the J-crabs pulled in at 5 p.m. Yes, officially, my almost-90-y-o grandmother has WAY more energy than the Crab Queen! GMK had breathlessly reported from the gorilla exhibit to report that "Jack is only a couple of inches shorter than the Lowlands gorilla!" which offered a veritable cornucopia of retorts, which I assure you were verbalized.
We had another tasty Rubio's dinner, after much deliberation and a game of Spite & Malice in which Grandma Mary allowed Jamie to crush her in order to renew his spirits and "let him think he CAN win or he won't want to play again." GMK's brow was furrowed by this concept. (This line of thinking extends from Grandma's dispirited approach to the idea of Boggle with APT).
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