Flamingos and Antique Tractors

We had a family day today, as Dan and I both had it off. The local park hosted a guest appearance by the Columbus Zoo along with free lunch from Wendy's. There had to be more than 300 people there to see the traveling menagerie. We had gotten there late and were waiting in line for our food when they took the first guest, a Chilean Flamingo named Marty, out of the truck. A truck that was parked not five feet from the line. Marty trotted around until his handler could herd him towards his intended target. Aveline got a close up look at the pink bird and even collected a pink feather he had left behind. That was certainly a prize! We had gotten there too late to get a good seat, but munched on our free lunch atop a hill overlooking the show. An armadillo, sloth, legless lizard (isn't that a snake?) and some kind of monkey thing later, we had full bellies and had learned a few things about animals. Aveline even learned something about local government, as we entered the nearby city building in search of a restroom (no potties at the park and Aveline with a serious attitude toward using one!) We walked into the cold, deserted building. Aveline asked where everyone was. I told her that I didn't know, distracted by my desperate search for a restroom. Without blinking, she decided she knew where they were, when she told me she thought they were probably "on a break." I had to chuckle at that observation.

After the nomadic zoo at the potty-less park, we headed south to the Yesteryear Tractor Show. Aveline and Scarlett have been obsessed with the movie Cars as of late, so we thought this might be fun. Dan was interested and I knew there would be good ice cream there. That and it was free. We wandered through the antique tractors and other implements. Dan paused here and there to look more closely. Scarlett was content in her stroller. Aveline held Daddy's hand. We opted to take a wagon ride through the adjoining park, guided by a conservationalist (notice I did not say conversationalist, because his tour guide skills were nothing special.) We did get to see some interesting things, like the second largest Green Ash tree in Ohio. I am a tree geek, so I really enjoyed learning and seeing all the different species. Once off the wagon, eyelids were heavy while parental patience was growing thin. I suggested we find the ice cream and head home for nap. We shared a bowl of strawberry, all of the ladies taking turns feeding Daddy. He liked that.

Once the ice cream was devoured, we meandered through a row of old tractors as we headed to the van. The girls napped when we got home.