“Let’s go Daddy! Time to go, Daddy!”
The Dad was just sitting down to read the newspaper when both of his kids came running into the kitchen.
“We love the zoo!” they were both shouting.
“The zoo...was that today?” the dad wondered as he looked over at the calendar on the refrigerator.
“Okay,” he said. “Does everybody have their sunscreen on?”
“Yes Daddy,” said the daughter. “Now you put some on.” She handed him the bottle and they all headed out to the car.
“Daddy, can we see the alligators first?” asked the son. “They have such big teeth.” He opened his mouth wide and growled.
“No! I want to watch the otters first, “ cried the daughter. “They are so cute!”
“Relax, there will be time for everything,” the dad answered.
“Daddy, remember that big snake?” asked the daughter.
The dad did remember. The last time he had taken his kids to the zoo they had gone to see a “meet the animals” show. The zoo keeper had invited him up to touch the snake, but he had been too nervous to do it. Both of his kids touched it and loved it and had not let him forget about the incident.
“I hope that snake is safely behind glass,” the dad laughed.
As they pulled into the parking lot and drove around looking for a place to park, the kids listed their favorite animals.
“The otter...and the puma...and the goats,” said the daughter.
“The fish...and the monkeys...and the alligator,” listed the son.
“Everybody stay with me,” the dad said as they got out of the car. They walked across the parking lot and up to the ticket window.
“We love the zoo!” The kids yelled at the girl behind the counter.
“Have a fun day,” she told them as she handed the tickets and map of the zoo to the dad.
They headed through the front gate past the gift shop and snack bar.
“Daddy! Can we get ice cream?” both kids yelled.
“Not now,” the dad answered. “You just had breakfast an hour ago.”
“But I’m starving!” yelled the son.
“Maybe later,” said the dad. “Where should we go first?” As soon as he said those words, he wished he had not.
“The otter!” shouted the daughter.
“The alligator! shouted the son.
Of course those two exhibits were at opposite ends of the zoo.
“Okay,” the dad paused to think. “How about we start out this way, since the alligator is closer?”
“Yeah!” responded the son.
“But what about the otter,” whined the daughter, her head and shoulders drooping.
“We’ll get there, don’t worry,” the dad told her.
They headed down the path toward the alligator. The daughter walking slowly behind, while the son ran up ahead.
They made their way past the raccoons and badgers, the peacocks and parrots, the fish tanks and lizards, and finally to the alligators.
“Careful there, buddy, “ the dad said as he grabbed the back of his son’s shirt. The son had climbed way up on the railing to get a closer look.
“Look at all those teeth!” the son pointed excitedly.
“Are you coming, sweetie?” the dad asked his daughter as she slowly walked up to the alligator exhibit. She was still looking sad because they hadn’t seen the otters yet.
“We’ll head to the otters next,” the dad said.
“Come on, let’s go!” she yelled excitedly.
“But Dad, I’m not done yet,” the son yelled.
“Two more minutes, then we’ll see the otter and maybe get some ice cream.”
“Ice cream!” both kids shouted.
That was enough to get the son’s mind off the alligators, as both kids started running up the path.
“Wait for me,” the dad said as he hustled to keep up.
They passed the porcupine, the bobcat, the pumas and the giraffes.
When they got to the otter exhibit, there was quite a crowd watching the animals.
“I can’t see them, Daddy” the daughter whined.
“Just wait your turn. We’ll get a chance,” he told her.
After several minutes, the crowd moved on, and they got their chance to get up close to the otters.
The three of them stood for quite a while watching the two otters swim back and forth in the pond. Every couple of minutes, one would get out of the water and run up the little path to a tree on the edge of the exhibit, go around the tree, and scamper back to the pond. The otters repeated the pattern over and over.
The dad and his kids watched until the son remembered what his dad had said.
“Let’s go get the ice cream now!” he shouted as he started running toward the main building.
“Hold on buddy...wait for us,” the dad said as he pulled the daughter away from the otters.
Just as they reached the main zoo building where the ice cream stand was, the dad noticed his son searching for something in his pockets.
“What are you looking for?” the dad asked.
“My dinosaur car!” the son said nervously. “I can’t find it.”
“Why did you bring that? Where is it? When did you have it?” the dad blurted out all at once.
“I don’t know,” the son answered as tears started down his face. “I had it when we got out of the car.”
The dad knew there was no way they could go home without that dinosaur car. They had to find it.
“Okay, let’s go look,” the dad said.
“But I want ice cream,” whined the daughter.
“We have to find his car first,” said the dad. “We’ll get ice cream on our way out.”
So back they went...past the otter, the giraffes, the pumas and the bobcats, the lizards and the fish tanks, the parrots and the peacocks, the badgers and the raccoons. No sign of the dinosaur car.
They walked slowly back up toward the main building and sat down on a bench. The dad was not sure where to look next. The son was crying because he had lost his car. The daughter was crying because she wanted ice cream.
“Hey, I was hoping I would see you,” came a voice from behind them. It was the girl from the ticket counter. “You left this on my table this morning.” She held out her hand and was holding the dinosaur car!
“YES!” shouted the son.
“YES!” shouted the dad.
“ICE CREAM!” shouted the daughter.
As they drove home, enjoying their ice cream cones, the kids chattered happily about pumas, alligators, otters, and dinosaur cars. They asked the dad when he could take them again, and listed all the things they would do the next time they went to the zoo.
“I need a nap,” the dad whispered to himself.
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