Mari & Ilna: What can I say? I'm enjoying this adventure every bit as much as I was on day one. Maybe more.
REAL Worlders-thanks for all the enthusiastic support. You guys are the best.
Part 3 of Angie's First Birthday Marathon
Zoo Trip (1/1)
"Are we ready?" Niko Iola asked with a wide smile as he looked at the excited faces in front of him.
After a bit of back and forth about the optimal adult/child ratio for the twilight zoo tour Joseph had arranged it was decided that Joseph, Steve, Danny and Aaron would accompany Cody, Jess, Casey, Dylan, Kaitlyn, Jacob, Grace, Joan and Angie on their adventure.
"Yes!" the children answered in unison.
Niko beamed.
He loved an enthusiastic group.
"My helper guides will be here any second and then we'll get started."
Joan bounced on the balls of her feet as she held tightly to Aaron's hand. "This is gonna be so fun! Isn't it, Daddy? Isn't it, Baby Angie?"
"Eeeee ooooo." Angie reached for her cousin from her perch in Steve's arms.
Joan reached up and squeezed Angie's hand playfully then took a small step back and said seriously. "I'm wearing the necklace I made at the library craft program. I have to be careful Baby Angie doesn't grab it and try to put it in her mouth because she could choke if the string breaks."
"That's good thinking," Aaron kissed her head. "I'm proud of you for being careful around Angie."
"It's very beautiful," Joseph said as he pointed to the necklace. "You did a great job."
"Thanks!" Joan ran her fingers over the small lines of blue beads interspersed with pieces of red and white striped paper straws. "It's for the 4th of July because it looks like a flag, but I can wear it other times too. We also made … what are those things called, Daddy?"
"Suncatchers," Aaron reminded her.
"Right. Suncatchers." Joan beamed. "We used tissue paper and sparkly stars. I'm gonna give mine to Baby Angie for the window in her room."
"Here they are. Right on time." Niko smiled as two young uniformed zoo employees appeared. "I'd like to introduce you to Cassie and Tam. They're two of my best guides and they'll be helping me with tonight's tour." Cassie and Tam waved. "Many of the animals are more alert and active during the twilight hours so please make sure you follow any directions you get from one of the guides carefully."
Cody squeezed Jacob's shoulder.
"I will," the young boy promised.
"If everyone is very good, even the grown-ups," Niko teased, "there may be a surprise at the end of the tour. For right now though, let's start with the primates."
"That's the monkeys," Dylan said as the group headed down the path. "We studied them last year."
"As you can see," Tam pointed as the orangutans came into view, "the primates are winding down and preparing to settle in for the night. They have an activity cycle very much like ours. They're active during daylight hours and sleep when it gets dark out. Does anyone know what that's called?"
Kaitlyn looked around at the others then raised her hand timidly.
"Go ahead." Tam smiled warmly.
"Diurnal," Kaitlyn replied as her cheeks immediately pinked.
"That's exactly right!" Tam took a few steps forward and gave her a high five. "Great job. Most tours nobody gets that one."
Kaitlyn beamed.
"Notice how they're bedding down as a group," Cassie said. "They draw a great deal of support and comfort from the members of their family. Not to mention they have a lot of fun together."
"That's just like our family," Jacob observed.
Danny looked from the largest primate, who was pounding his chest aggressively, to Steve, then back. "In some cases, exactly like it," he smirked.
After taking their time checking out the gorillas, spider monkeys, orangutans, and the very colorful and aptly named Golden Lion Tamarin, the group moved down the path.
"They're sooooooooooooo pretty," Joan said, her eyes fixed on the two tigers who were very much awake and definitely seemed to have taken notice of their visitors as they moved about their enclosure.
"Oooooooooooooo!" Angie squealed.
Joan waved at the animals and beamed with delight when Angie did the same.
"They're amazing, aren't they?" Grace said. "The new baby had just been born when I was here on my class field trip and now look at him." She pointed to the smallest tiger of the group. "He's getting so big."
"Seventy-five pounds at his last physical," Tam said proudly. "They just finished their dinner so now they're ready for some playtime.'
Jacob's hand shot up.
"Go ahead." Tam pointed to him expecting a question.
"They're lucky," Jacob said instead. "They don't have to do their homework first."
The whole group chuckled.
As they watched, one of the tigers climbed to the top of a small rock formation. Several seconds later he pounced down playfully on the next tiger to walk by and they tousled briefly before walking off together looking for their next adventure.
"They're kinda like Midnight," Dylan observed matter of factly.
"Except that they could eat you if they wanted to," Danny snorted.
They spent the next hour or so visiting the lions, the chimpanzees, the baboons and assorted reptiles before finally reaching the giraffes.
"Who can tell me why the giraffes and the zebras are kept in the same enclosure?" Tam asked.
Dylan's hand shot up. He waited to be called on then said, "Because they're not natural enemies. We just learned that in class last year."
"Very good," Tam responded. "Any other reason?"
Kaitlyn raised her hand and Tam pointed to her with a smile. "Because they don't eat the same things, so they don't fight over food," she said. Her answers had gotten much bolder as the tour went on and her confidence built.
"Exactly right." Tam turned to Cassie. "This group is certainly keeping us on our toes. Let's try something harder. How many bones does a giraffe have in their neck?"
Both Kaitlyn and Casey's hands went up.
"Let's see if your big sister gets this right." Tam winked at Kaitlyn as he pointed at Casey.
"Seven," Casey said confidently. "Just like a human."
"Well done." Tam grinned. "That's exactly right."
"Good job, Casey." Kaitlyn clapped.
"You should get half the credit,' Casey said as she wrapped her arm around her sister. "I learned that from one of your library books I was reading you as bedtime story."
"Oh, wow! I don't believe it." Cassie's face was filled with excitement as they approached the next enclosure. "This almost never happens."
"What is it?" Joseph asked, curious as to what could provoke such a reaction from the young tour guide.
"The aardvarks are out!" Cassie said excitedly. "We hardly ever see them, even on the twilight tours. They love to hide until everyone has gone home. But not tonight."
"They're so cute." Kaitlyn took a step closer to the glass and watched the homely animal dig into the ground in search of food. "How do they … " she stopped short then raised her hand.
"Yes, Kaitlyn," Niko smiled at the well-mannered little girl who so clearly love all the animals.
"How do they keep from getting ants up their nose when they eat?" she asked.
"Well,' he squatted down beside her, "that's a very interesting question. You see the aardvarks can actually seal off their nostrils when they're eating, or even when they're running to avoid dust getting in."
He spent a few minutes revealing more fun facts while the kids, especially Kaitlyn, hung on every word.
"Talk about a face only a mother could love," Steve snorted as Angie dozed on his shoulder.
"A mother," Aaron smiled. "Or Kaitlyn."
The enthusiastic young guides had everyone in the group balance on one leg in front of the flamingos, imitate the distinctive penguin gait as they watched the small tuxedoed creatures move about their enclosure, and finally use their outstretched arms, one in front and one behind, to imitate the trunk to tail movement of the elephants.
Jacob laughed uproariously as he took his place in the 'elephant line' behind his siblings.
"Are you gonna do it, Uncle Steve?" Dylan asked.
"I would," Steve said with as much sincerity as he could muster, "but Angie's sleeping."
"Chicken," Joseph teased as he took his place in line behind Aaron and Joan. "Come on, Danny!"
"I swear if I see you pull out your phone to take a picture I'm gonna throw it in the nearest body of water," Danny grumbled to Steve as he took his place in line.
"I knew I was right about you guys," Niko said as they made their way back towards the main gate. "Everyone behaved, even the grown-ups, so I have a special treat for you."
Elizabeth, Catherine, Gabby, Jenna and Mary heard the front door open followed by the excited voices of the crew returning from their zoo adventure.
A few seconds later the door opened, and Kaitlyn was the first to burst onto the deck.
She clutched a tote bag emblazoned with the face of an aardvark.
Her eyes were red rimmed and damp and her lip was quivering.
"Honey, what's wrong?" Jenna asked worriedly.
Her mother's concern caused the young girl to break into full-fledged sobs.
Jenna looked questioningly as Steve, Aaron, Joseph and Danny who had made their way out to the deck. None of them seemed particularly upset.
She looked back to her daughter.
"Sweetie, what happened?"
"Mom, mom, mom." Kaitlyn fought to get her emotions under control. "I got to hold a sloth!"
"It was super cool!" Jacob said.
"It really was," Dylan agreed.
"I got to hold her too," Joan reported as she scrambled into Mary's lap holding a stuffed tiger that was almost as big as her. "Daddy helped me."
"Niko said since everyone was extra good on the tour he was gonna give us a surprise," Joseph reported. "And what a surprise it was."
"I gotta say that was one of the coolest things I've ever done," Casey said as Grace, Jess and Cody nodded in agreement.
"Her name was Cinnamon, and she really likes people and she likes to give hugs." Kaitlyn's words came out in a rush. "Her fur feels like a hairbrush and she has long claws and she doesn't smell and Tam said that's because they have no body odor and that helps them avoid predators. And we took lots of pictures and we saw the aardvarks too even though they almost never come out and Uncle Joseph bought me this tote bag even though I told him he didn't have to because just the zoo trip was the best thing in my whole life."
"Eeeeeee ooooooh mama!" Angie squealed, holding a smaller version of the tiger Joan had.
Catherine held out her arms and took her now wide-awake daughter. "There's my big girl. Did you have fun?"
"Look, we match." Joan pointed first to her tiger then to Angie's. She hugged the stuffed animal tightly and laughed happily when Angie did the same. "Baby Angie is getting really smart," she said.
Jenna thanked Joseph profusely both for the trip and for the souvenirs he purchased for the children. In addition to Kaitlyn's tote bag, Jess and Cody each got a zoo sweatshirt, Casey and Dylan got drawstring backpacks, and Jacob picked out a large colorful puzzle depicting some of the zoo's more popular exhibits.
Grace, to Steve and Joseph's delight and Danny's dismay, chose a keyring on which she could keep her own set of car keys.
"Mr. Iola gave me a list of books to read and some websites I can go to as long as you allow me," Kaitlyn bubbled. "He said he got interested in animals when he was about my age and that having a pet is the perfect way to see if taking care of animals is what you want to do."
"One of the tigers jumped on the other one and they were playing, and we saw an orange monkey and we all walked like elephants." Joan giggled. "Even Uncle Danny."
"That was supposed to be our little secret," Danny grinned.
"And there were pretzels and lemonade after we finished the tour and I was a good listener and I followed all the directions," Joan added.
"The lizards went like this." Jacob stuck out his tongue and wiggled it. "And we saw meerkats. Just like Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King."
"Well, it sounds like you all had a very good time," Catherine smiled.
"Did you thank Uncle Joseph?" Jenna asked.
"Many times," Joseph assured her. "It was my pleasure. I think we oughta plan to make this a yearly event."
Steve and Catherine smiled at each other as the children broke out in cheers and Angie joined them, picking up on their excitement.
Family and tradition.
That's what it was all about.
THE END
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