Let me enlighten you. Before landing in afore described sunny oasis, I will walk through security bearing my twenty-seven pound toddler with my dear friend who is seven months pregnant and also in possession of a twenty-seven pound toddler of her own. They will have had forced early naps, be craving sunshine and wide open spaces to run, and will not at all enjoy the ear popping sensation that take-off and landing afford.
That, my dear readers, is why I am a bit anxious about our trip to Florida. Nonetheless, I found myself standing peacefully in front of a monkey cage today without a care in the world.
In preparation for our adventure, I planned to thoroughly exhaust Jonathan this morning so that he would get a deep, good nap before boarding. We headed to the Natural Science Center, a glorious place designed to entertain and educate the little ones with a petting zoo, dinosaur exhibits, and even exhibits featuring monkeys and Siberian tigers. Now as anyone who knows my son knows, monkeys are nearly as exciting as rainbow sprinkles. Whenever we mention one he raises his eyebrows, puts his little fingertips up to his armpits and says, "Eee Eee Eee." You can only imagine his emotions at seeing real live monkeys swinging from ropes just paces from his transfixed self.
It was precious. After passing by the tired and lazing monkeys, we ventured to the tigers for a magnificent show. Jonathan would follow the tiger along the glass that divided them, not saying anything, but occasionally uttering a low growl. His mouth hung open and if the tiger came too near his vantage point he would dash to my side, still staring as that huge face and glittering eyes passed us by.
We tracked back past the monkeys and I inwardly hoped they would be playing. We were in luck! From a small distance I spotted a white one hanging from the roof of the cage, dangling with apparent ease. As we got closer we saw the black one hopping toward the glass, and we made it just in time for Jonathan to lock eyes with him. The monkey wanted to chit-chat, so he sat right in front of my little guy, put his monkey hands on the glass, and emitted small squeaking noises as Jonathan stared unblinking. Then I saw a chubby little hand lift and follow the monkey's, landing finger to finger in a connection that seemed almost to say, "Hi there, my fuzzy new friend."
In that moment I forgot all about high-flying turbo stress, and just smiled:)
