Yesterday, we celebrated Columbus’ Day with a trip to the Houston Zoo, taking advantage of the “free admission” Holiday. Of course, since we live in Houston, our little trip wasn’t quite the lovely little fall excursion I had envisioned. It was hot. It was humid. I was hormonal (a fact my husband didn’t miss).
And, that, my dears, is a combination that this Mama DOESN’T like.
It was with more than just a little trepidation that I loaded the diaper bag and picnic cooler into the trunk. All potential excitement had worn off; I really, really, REALLY don’t like being hot and sweaty. (I don’t like being hormonal either but I didn’t have a choice about that — who does? That’s right, no one. Thanks a lot, Eve.)
After missing our exit (twice), nearly getting sideswiped by some lunatic woman in a cream VW bug, and circling around the “under-construction” zoo parking lot for 15 minutes, we FINALLY arrived at the entrance of our wild animal adventure. Our hot little family settled into the business of looking at lions, and tiger, and bears. Oh, wait! That’s right, NONE of those animals were out today. Apparently, zoo animals take holidays too. Lovely.
Then, it happened; my eyes began to fill with salty water. Maybe it was the glaring sun, the nasty sweat (yeah, I sweat! So what?), or the steamy scent of elephant dung that caused me to tear up as we meandered through the zoo. Or, it may have been the sight of my baby . . . no, my little girl — getting more and more excited as we visited each animal. Whatever the cause, things were blurry as I watched her recognize animals and call out their sounds, as I watched her squeal and pet the goats, and as I watched her take her Daddy by the hand to show him some furry creature she had found.
Today, she was a little girl — learning, retaining facts, repeating the names of animals in her soft little girl voice. Today, it seemed as though she had left her sweet baby days in the construction dust of downtown Houston. She was a big girl walking around the zoo, waving to the animals, and making their sounds. 
And, making her Mama cry — right there in front of all God’s creatures (well, except the aforementioned, sorry, good-for nothing, missing animals).
Yeah, definitely hormonal.
