Monday, October 8: Colin's Birthday at the Zoo

Colin woke me up at 8:30 and then again at 9:30 when he insisted I make breakfast. After an ice cold shower because we cannot figure out the water heater, I headed off for the London Zoo since that is what Colin wanted to do for his seventh birthday. Liam originally said he was going to stay behind but ended up going with us. There were only a handful of times I wished he'd have followed through on his threat. Overall the boys were pretty decent. Then again, they weren't being dragged through boring historical crap.


It was a great day for the zoo. A bit overcast, but no drizzle. A bit cool, but not cold. And no crowds whatsoever. We could do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted to do it. I let the boys set the pace for the first two and a half hours and then I pretty much guided them along for the second two and a half hours. Yes, we were at the zoo for five hours. Time went by quite quickly.

They have a fantastic exhibit with gorillas. The boys recognized the reptile house from the first Harry Potter movie and they do indeed have a plaque commemorating the filming schedule. I didn't recognize as much as I thought I would from my visit as an eight year old, but the reptile house and the giraffe house seemed vaguely familiar. Of course, the reptile house could be because of Harry Potter I suppose.

I don't know if the boys enjoyed seeing the animals more or running up and down slanted walls that reminded them of skateboarding half pipes. They spent a little bit of time in the playground, but really didn't need it. The London Zoo is filled with walls, steps, and tunnels that provide plenty of activity for two hyperactive immature male human animals. Feeding time at the zoo was a bit of a pain with the birthday boy getting in a snit because his brother grabbed the last sandwich in the case that he wanted. By 4:00 p.m. the zoo was practically deserted and I finally got the boys the ice cream we've been promising them for days. $5.00 American for a little tiny tin of ice cream with the teeniest tinieset of plastic half-spoons. This exchange rate is killing us!

Liam and Colin both decided their favorite animals were the Gibbons. They were fun to watch and looked like they were putting on a show with kung fu fighting. I liked seeing the little statue of Winnie the Pooh with the plaque that explained the stories' origin. The boys enjoyed playing on it, but Colin insisted it looked more like a pig than a bear from Canada. Granted, the snout was a bit pig like but the ears were definitely all bear. Still, Colin keeps referring to it as Winnie the Pig.

The boy who kept leaping off stairs, twirling around slanted walls and strangling his brother all of a sudden developed a sprained knee and broken ankle when dragged across Regent's park to get to the Baker station on the Jubilee line. Thank goodness we were counter-commuting and got seats all the way home to Canary Wharf. Liam did take a break from his dramatic limping to run up and down a hill in the middle of Regent's park though. I wish we had had more time to explore it some more. What I did see was quite pretty and must be absolutely glorious in summer. Liam took a break from his bitching and moaning to collect fall leaves and toss them on his brother when he wasn't looking. That was kind of funny.



We beat daddy home by maybe fifteen minutes. Jamie picked up a cake, birthday card and present for Colin on his way home from work. We dutifully signed it in his presence and wrapped the gift in a bath towel. He got a model Rolls Royce from the '007 movie Goldfinger. He chose delivery Chinese food for his birthday dinner. Works for the adult slugs in his life. We didn't have any birthday candles so he "blew out" a AA battery for the camera. He's got a weird mother, what can I say? I thought it was a pretty cool birthday for a seven year old, but only time will tell how he remembers it.




WEIRD TOURIST COMMENT: Yesterday Jamie saw a man actually take a picture of himself in the bathroom of the British museum. And I thought I took too many photos! I don't think Jamie will ever complain about my shutterbugness again.

If I have one more person ask me for directions I am going to scream. How in the world can I look like I know where I am, where I've been or where I am going???

Oh, and we have messed around with the water heater hoping there is something we can do to affect access to a hot bath. Tommorrow....the Tower of London.