Free Day

I have a nasty cold, and upon my cold I lay the blame for what happened today.

Way back last week when I had the brilliant idea to go to the zoo with the boys on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the forecast was for 49 degrees. That seemed like perfect winter zoo weather. We'd dress warmly and check out the indoor exhibits when we were cold. So I made the announcement: We're going to the zoo. A few days ago, the forecast was for 60 + and I thought, "Well, the crowds will be worse, but not everyone gets MLK day off." At that point, I didn't know it was free day at the zoo. And then someone told me, but Luke already knew the plan, and how bad could free day really be? How bad? I'll let the google map from the car to the zoo speak for itself. (OK, instead of letting the map speak for itself, I'll add that it was 9/10 of a mile. We walked for at least 20 minutes from the car to the zoo. We had to stop and get a drink on the way.) Oh, and what I also didn't know until it was way too late, was that the zoo is right next to the park where the Martin Luther King Jr. rally and parade began.

So I guess only a crazy person would go to the zoo on free day, but I have to say, that even though it was insanely crowded, people were very polite and considerate. I didn't feel the need to be mean to anyone's kids and no one felt the need to tell me I was mean. So that was nice. And right when I started to feel the tiniest bit claustrophobic, Luke decided he wanted to leave.

Of course it was at least an hour and a half before we were back at the car, but we had a fun day.