Who was the worst creature?

Our little vacation is now up to day four. We have had all kinds of adventures, so we thought that on this day, we would do one of our favoriteactivities. We went to the Albuquerque Zoo. We LOVE zoos. Go to the OKC Zoo enough to pay for the family pass ten times over. (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

So we left camp early, (I know. It was only a two hour ordeal this day!) and drove the hour or so to Albuquerque. Now, I need to make a disclaimer here. I am not being cruel, hateful, or judgemental. I'm just going to tell you how the day went for MY family this particular day. Please don't send me hate mail if you do not agree with me. We had the wonderful surprise of getting to use our zoo pass for a huge discount on entrance fees. So much so, that my family of nine got in for the same price as my Mom and Dad. Sweet! (Doesn't seem fair considering who gave us the pass.) Once inside we thought we'd ride the train first and then see the rest of the zoo. They have like two or three different trains and such, but we chose the one that was running that day, and quickly got on. I wasn't impressed. It was okay, but we were looking at the backside of most of the buildings and exhibits. We did however get to spend loads of time at the elephant exhibit due to a train being broken down further up the line. Thankfully we were in the shade. So our 20 minute train ride that lasted an hour was soon over, and we decided it was lunch time.

Of went Heath to get the coolers and such that were packed with lunch. It took him FOREVER to get back with them. I was beginning to think he got lost on all the winding paths, but he eventually found his way to us. And was NOT happy. Apparently, he ran into the first of a long line of rude people. We quickly ate lunch, and Dad volunteered to take the cooler back to the car while we started in on the rest of the zoo. What seemed like ages later, he caught up with us. And was NOT happy. He must have ran into the same group of people as Heath.

Mom and I were having a pretty good time with the kids. My kids are the ones that read all the signs, spend all kinds of time hunting the exhibit over to find the animal, and then try to educate the general public on all they have discovered. Well, we were having a good time until we got to the sea lion exhibit. My kids were asking me which animals were the seals and which were the sea lions, and how you tell them apart. To which they were told by a passerby that how ignorant I really was. Now I edited the actual words, but really. I just ignored them, and thankfully Malcolm did to. He prides himself in his science knowledge, and of his Pop's and mother's as well. And I wasn't wrong. He quietly walked over to a sign and read it, and then innocently looked back at me and announced what the sign said to all that were standing there. It sounded vaguely familiar to something I had just said....

But that wasn't the worst. We had not been having a great time with the locals in New Mexico. Generally it had been a rude reception. And the winner of them all was here at the zoo. My Mom was standing with my kids at one of the underwater windows watching the sea lions and seals swimming all around. One of her favorite attractions. And there were hoards of people at this one exhibit. When all of a sudden a woman pushed her child in front of Mom and looked at Mom to tell her, "You need to move and get out of the way. This should be for kids, and you are too old to be standing here hogging all the space." I was so proud of my Mom at that moment. She did not retort with all the things that were fighting to get out of my mouth. (Yes, I said my mouth. I knew exactly what she wanted to say) She turned and stood at the back by my Dad. And I went to run interference for my kids who were so polite, they all moved to let the little girl and her mother in front to see the animals. Some people!

It was mostly a good day from then on. We were tired, hot, and ready to go home by the end of the day. And ready to be among polite people again. RV camps have some of the most polite people in the world! Literally the world, but that is a post for a different day.