An Unexpected Field Trip

My munchkins have never been to a Zoo in their short deprived lives. Not that I have anything against animals held in captivity, on display in cages littered with colorful debris to distract the poor creatures while humans come to gawk and satiate their curiosities.... I'm rather partial to the concept, in fact.

The problem is that for years I lived in Washington, DC and thus have been conditioned to balk at the idea of paying money for entrance to zoos and museums and art galleries and the like. If I'm going to fork over the kind of money some of these places outside the capital ask for, then the triplets better dang well be old enough to appreciate it. Maybe write a short essay on medicinal properties of the Guatemalan bearded lizard's venom. Something simple, just so I have documented proof I got my 30 bucks a head worth.

re?

So when my brother called me late morning Tuesday and offered to treat the triplets and me to the Atlanta Aquarium if I wanted to go that day, I jumped at the chance. I should have said no, of course (of course) because there is no such thing as a successful last minute outing with triplet toddlers. Never happened. Never will. I told him I'd see him by 2:30. I pulled up to his place just after 4, we got to the Aquarium just in time to see them shutter the admissions booth. Uncle E not being the plan ahead type of guy, who knows if we'll get a chance to do the Aquarium in the near future. Can you say serious bummer?

Then Wednesday morning while doing a little shopping at Your Dekalb's Farmers Market (oh, how I love that place) I spotted the live lobster tank at the back of the fish market area and thought - hey, AQUARIUM....ish. The triplets were mesmerized. They barked. I explained to them that lobsters don't bark, silly babies, they scream. That's how you know when they are ready for dinner. Harharhar...went right over their heads.

They barked at the crabs, too. Then I lifted them out of the stroller one by one to show them the crawfish. Oh, what fun! We spent so much time there my fingers started to go numb in the cold. Took the sting out of missing the Aquarium...just a bit.

Admission to the Farmer's Market

$0.

Organic meats, veggies, and potato chive cheddar bread

$22.06

Looks on the faces of strangers as I pretend to drop a toddler into a vat of live crawfish

Perrrr-RICE-less!