Boo at the Zoo

For the past few years it has rained on our ticketed day to go to Boo at the Zoo. I mean RAINED. This year looked to the the same fate. Taylor was in town, Ian was in Vegas and the girls and I were geared up for Boo at the Zoo. Bon Bon had delivered on the perfect jockey costume for Lucy, Harper had mastered saying "buzz" for her bee costume and I was prepared to brave the crowds with three kiddos in tow. And it rained. Not a little sprinkle, but downpours for hours beforehand. Taylor kept checking weather.com and I decided that we were going, no matter what.

We loaded the car with the kids, costumes, and picked up dinner on the way, in the rain. We drove the 25 minutes to the zoo, in the rain. And then, there it was, a clearing sky. Just in time. We "tailgaited" (don't get me started on how much the term tailgait has changed in the past 10 years for me) and did final touches on the costumes and off we went.

The two things Lucy was looking forward to? Getting an apple (no joke!) and going through the giant tiger. Let me explain the tiger. You enter through the mouth as the tiger "eats you" then you proceed through a tunnel that takes you through the entire digestive track of the tiger, complete with sounds and other bits of food that the tiger has eaten, and then you are pooped out at the end, again with sounds. Lucy is endlessly delighted by this and actually remembered it from last year. Neither of her favorites disappointed and new ones were added: seeing cockroaches crawl in and out of their own jack-0-lantern, seeing and hearing the male lion roar from happiness at his own treat-filled pumpkin, seeing the orangutans covered with blankets and sleeping in their hay "cribs" and the octopus that was suckered to the side of the tank.

Harper loved the goats, tortoises, the snakes and the treats. She was tired half-way through and thank goodness Taylor was happy to sit with her and let her gorge on treats while Lucy and I tried to conquer more of the zoo.

All in all, we had a fantastic time, stayed dry and while Lucy was officially "pooped out" of the tiger tunnel twice, we all left a bit pooped in the end, but with yummy treats in hand.