After the fall Parent/Teacher Conferences, Lord Herndon and Prince had the day off from school, so we utilized a coupon and took the kids to the zoo built right on the mountainside.
The absolutely favorite part for all three kids was the very first exhibit: the giraffes.
At first intimidated by their amazing long, black tongues, Prince, Princess, and Sweet Pea bravely fed the creatures leaves of green lettuce and squealed with delight each time a giraffe ate one.
The kids were so excited that they ran from exhibit to exhibit, barely giving us time to glance at the animals before it was on to the next.
Then Lord Herndon and I had the brilliant idea of helping Prince overcome his fear of monkeys (which originated with this event).
No sooner had we entered the fully enclosed primate house then the zoo attendant started opening the little feeding doors to give the monkeys their dinner. The entire building erupted in ear-splitting, echoing barks.
Prince, Princess, and Sweet Pea started at us in shock for half a second, then burst out sobbing and screaming, and even after we had rushed them outside and cuddled them, they did not calm down, and we had to end our journey through the zoo.
I don’t think that experience did much to help them overcome their fear of monkeys.
