Every year Blank Children's Hospital and the Children's Miracle Network sponsor a night at the Blank Park Zoo for special needs children and their families from 6pm-9pm. There are activities, costumed characters, dinner, and a stuffed animal for the kids...all for free! This is such a wonderful opportunity for our family. It's really great to be with people who don't stare at your kid because he has a shunt sticking out of his head, because he can't walk or sit up, or because he eats from a tube connected to his belly. We can just have fun without any comments or stares. Of course, I like to pretend that they are just staring because they have never see such beautiful children. Last year we went for the first time. Last year Tony's mom went with us, so this year my mom went with us.
There was quite a line to get in when we arrived. Since it was just after 6pm when we were finally inside the zoo, we decided to eat first to keep as close to our regular eating time as possible and to eat while Nicholas was still awake enough. After dinner, we got an idea how things were going to go right away. Apparently, peacocks are scary. Nicholas wanted nothing to do with them and was not interested in walking anywhere near them. It turns out he really didn't want anything to do with any feathered and winged animal. He wasn't really into the characters that were there either. I can see where Spiderman and Batman may be scary, but Curious George, Cinderella, and Snow White??? Where was my brave boy who is such a daredevil at home? He spent a lot of time watching the river otter and the Lemers. The jelly fish were also a hit. Watching Nicholas get up the courage to feed the goats was funny. Daddy finally convinced him it was like feeding our dog, so he gave it a try. He really wanted to do it, but was scared so he kept making this sound that was like he was laughing and crying all at the same time. There was a band playing by the entrance which Nicholas loved. Any chance this boy gets to dance, he takes. This child is always cracking us up.
It's hard to imagine what the zoo is like for Hayden. How do you understand the concept of a tiger, a bird, a monkey when you can't see it and have no frame of reference? How does the zoo smell and what does it sound like when you don't have any visual distraction? Hayden was awake for about half of the zoo. He was probably awake more than that, but, as usual, he was pretending to be asleep since he was in an unfamiliar place. For Hayden, we tried to find as many animals as we could to pet and to listen to. He did get to hear a lion roar and he touched a duck, a hedgehog, and of course he fed a goat. Hayden loves to listen to birds, but by the time we got to them, he was really asleep. We'll have to remember to go that way first next year. Knowing Hayden, his favorite part was fliting with Cinderella and Snow White. He's such a ladies man already.
We can't wait for next year! More pictures can be seen at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023038&id=1539604753&l=31ee3a6f0f
Looks like you all are keeping busy too. Gus has yet to go to the zoo, I think he will be very much like Nic- when we took him to a farm a few months ago he was afraid of the goats as well...Oh, and I don't know if you guys see it or not, but your boys look like little miniatures of there daddy- they look so much like him!
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