Ally's Last Weekday of Freedom

We visited the Natural Science Center the Friday before Ally started kindergarten. Not only was this our last hurrah before being bound to school schedules for the next 14 years, but the tigers were celebrating their birthday. Who wouldn't want to see young carnivores devouring a tasty, meat-filled, fake-zebra snack?

I guess the folks at the NSC of G think a little differently than I, 'cause the actual "celebration" didn't play out the same as the version in my head. We waited in an extremely hot and crowded viewing area for the presentation of gifts. The girls and I watched through the plexiglass as Axl and Kisa enjoyed licking a set of ice-block cakes with carrot candles. I'm sure the birthday siblings eventually opened their wrapped presents, but they seemed fairly disinterested in them while we were around. Maybe they, too, were expecting zebra?

We met up with some dear friends (hey Walls!) at the party. Ally and Cora got their faces painted, and each of the kids made a tiger headband. We signed a card for the tigers, visited with a few animals, and then split ways again. Ally, Cora, and I continued our fun by exploring inside the museum and enjoying the A/C. We ate lunch, read books, played in the house and kitchen, sailed away on the boat, and built a safari park out of wooden blocks. Basically, we just spent time together.

All in all, it was a wonderful farewell to our unscheduled life of random adventures. Good-bye, crazy and carefree fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants days. May we meet again in Summer 2013!