zoo run!

so saturday was our zoo run. it was awesome, despite leaving town at 5:30 (which meant waking up at 4:30 and getting to the school to pick everyone else up by 5:30). i let everyone sleep on the way there. and they barely complained that i parked next to the entrance of the zoo rather than near the start line. so we had to walk half a mile to get our packets, then half a mile back to the car, where we waited for an hour or so for the race. then we walked half a mile back to the start, waited in line for port-a-potties, and then finally got to run.

i learned in that race that when i do have kids i will not be taking them with me in a jog stroller for a race. i will also not bring my 3-7 year old kids with me to actually run the race because it makes somewhat young individual runners feel really bad about themselves when they can't beat them at the end. fast little devils. i was also reminded again that walkers, while certainly encouraged to participate, need to be at the back of the pack, to one side, and not 5 people across. it wears me out.

it was a little tricky for the first mile what with all the walkers and strollers. plus the kids we were with (i can say that, they're like 10 years younger than us) took off and are a lot faster than us. i tried to at least keep them in my sights so it would be easy to find them at the end. as we rounded a corner and came up a hill, we managed to get around the mess and close the gap with two of the girls. then i just decided that i needed to catch them. i did. i nearly died. i'm not very good at running 9 minute miles, but apparently i can. at one point we ran down a pretty steep hill. i don't like running downhill. my body isn't used to it. not to mention i started running a 7:20 pace, which i haven't done since high school. despite my speed, i still couldn't catch those little kids in the last stretch. it was pretty depressing. also depressing that i only ran a 31:12. that's a great time for me, but considering i ran so fast the last two miles, i should have done better than that.

whatever the case, we said goodbye to a couple of the girls and stayed with the couple that rode with us to take a tour of the zoo. still fantastic. not to mention the dinosaurs.

they recently added a new herpetarium that's amazing. and i don't really care about the reptiles and amphibians usually. it's a really nice building, though. huge improvement from what they used to have.

one of my favorite sections was the australian outback. there's just something about kangaroos that get me. i think it's because they remind me so much of gandalf and uzi. especially gandalf.

this one acted like gandalf would act if he was a little more like a person. it just kept scratching it's arms and staring at me. it was precious.

this one was definitely more uzi. note the legs in the air in the sunshine. pure uzi.

the penguin exhibit wasn't quite as great as it was when it was a temporary exhibit. i'm thrilled that they are here permanently, but i wish there were more.

the good news is that this one loved me. it kept walking next to me and staring. i just knew it wasn't to come home with me.

the dinosaurs were scattered throughout the zoo. also a little disappointing, seeing how i wanted to feel like i was in jurassic park. still pretty fun hearing them roar at me and watching them move a little. the children were terrified.

kaitlin and i were especially excited about the brachiosaurus, as we share in its veggiesaurus ways.

life found a way.

the white tiger was on the prowl when we got over to it. it was pacing back and forth in front of the window so quickly i wasn't able to get a decent picture. the orange tiger, however, was so sleepy, it gave me a chance to get a little bit better of a picture for joy's daughter zoe. zoe has a tiger shirt that she likes to wear EVERY day, so we thought that maybe seeing a real tiger would make her pretty happy. plus zoe became a big sister last wednesday to noah, a beautiful baby boy, so i'm sure any attention is welcome.

the last time we came to the zoo, the male and female lions were separated and were roaring to each other. it was pretty cool. it was also really cool this time to see them together in the sunshine. it's not as easy to see here, but the male's head is upside down and his mouth is open. just made me laugh.

we got to the world of primates around feeding time. this lovely lady (we're pretty sure she's preggers) left us and came back with some fruit and carrots. and then stared at us for awhile.

this pair was precious. after a rejection, one ran to a rock with his hand over his face in shame. he gave himself a pep talk and tried again. another rejection. more hand-over-face shame. finally he went back, put both hands around her face to profess his love. she accepted. then they were best friends again.

the last stop was the cheetahs. also pretty funny. also reminded us of danders and uzi. when they got up from their nap, there was quite a bit of ear licking followed by some wiggling in hopes of getting more ear licking. then more sunshine and sleeping. classic uzi.

after an hour or so of errand running in fort worth, we headed back home to knock out some yard work and take the puppies on a much deserved walk. then i crashed. at 8:30. yes, it was still light outside.