How Ziggy the Alpaca Became a Household Legend

At first I was horrified by the amount of time the boys spend discussing and laughing about poop. Gross. How could they do this? And why is it always so funny? Brian patiently explained to me that to boys there is something inherently hilarious about poop, even at his age. I don’t get it. Why would I ever want to think about or talk about poop more than was necessary? And having twins has involved a whole lot of poop, none of which has been funny, with the one exception of when Cal’s poop shot across the room off the changing table at Brian when he was a couple months old. That’s it. Every other experience I’ve had, especially the two-in-a-row explosive diarrhea pants at Target about a year ago, has been an experience I’d like to forget.

Not so for the boys. They are constantly talking about poop in all its forms, along with puke and potty. I've written about it in the past, but it seems to have kicked into high gear lately. They also went through the phase of likening their poop to other objects. I’ve sadly grown accustomed to it and accepted that it’s just going to happen, so all I can do is draw strict parameters around when it’s okay, i.e. never at the table or around guests or around other people. Preferably, I’d like it restricted it to bath time with Dad, but that doesn’t really work very well.

Anyway, yesterday we took a trip to the National Zoo with some friends. The first place we visited was the elephant house, where the hit was not the giant elephants, but the huge tube of elephant poop. They wanted pictures in front of it; they wanted to touch it; was it real? Does it smell? Next, on to the pandas. Of course there’s a mold of a piece of panda poop on a string that they can touch and pull— way more interesting than the cute pandas rolling adorably around in their habitats. Later on they had the thrill of their lifetime as not only did we get to see alpaca poop, but Ziggy the Alpaca turned around, squatted, pooped and peed right across the fence from us. Wow! All four boys were entranced. “This is the first time we’ve ever seen an animal poop, Mom!” they all yelled repeatedly as we walked away, after having to pull them away from the fence when the show was over. As we left we even got a glimpse of the pig pen, dotted with pig poop. Oh, the joy.

The boys keep reminding me about Ziggy and that he pooped right in front of us and how cool it was. It's only been twenty four hours, but already Ziggy has become a household legend.

Elephant poop!

Holding panda poop

The fake elephant doesn't poop. Boh-ring.

Ziggy the Alpaca puts on the show...

...which elicits squeals of joy 

Pig poop

Another big hit on the trip was the hand dryers in the women’s bathroom. Shrieks and squeals didn’t stop until their hands were all dried much more than they actually needed to be. So glad we bothered to drive for 45 minutes to see poop and hand dryers. 

I wasn’t upset by the poop. I think I’m used to it. I just have to roll my eyes and try to tune it out. I keep thinking there must be coming a time when it won’t be funny to them, but I’m not sure that will ever come. So for now I need to try to keep the poop talk to fitting contexts and hope that they don’t lose friends over it—I can understand parents not wanting their kids to hang out with two kids who love to talk about poop.

I think only a short while ago I would have been reluctant to publicly admit how much my boy love to talk about poop. Acknowledgement is the first step to healing, right? Or is it the first stage of suffering?

Sea lions- no poop sightings

Being prairie dogs

Three side-by-side hand dryers!

How the Prairie Dogs Rocked the National Zoo

Two weeks ago we took a trip to the National Zoo with some friends, including the boys’ friends Andrew, and little Chloe from Adventures With Little Bear. The trip is more tedious than normal for us as public transportation-ers because we have to transfer metro lines, but due in part to the excitement of having Andrew on the bus and metro with us, the boys barely noticed the extra waiting and jostling.

Sit in the front car! Boys love it.

The zoo is just a few blocks away from the Woodley Park/National Zoo metro stop, and it’s free. In the past my National Zoo experiences have been varied. One time we brought the boys when they were way too young, it was way too hot, and way too crowded. The perfect time was last fall, middle of the week, with my parents and brother. Cooler weather, fewer people, happier animals, and more help with the boys. In my opinion, if you want to go to the zoo, do it in the middle of a week and before school is out, or in the fall after it’s in session. I want nothing to do with walking all over creation in 100% humidity while pushing a stroller full of toddlers through throngs of sweaty people.

The first thing we did at the zoo this time was wait for the sloth bear to come out and suck termites through a straw, but alas, the sloth bear was not up for the audience at his meal and he hid from view while the slightly flustered employee rattled off sloth bear statistics. If your kids have an animal they are especially interested in, either look online before, or ask someone if they allow visitors to watch a feeding and plan to be in the right place at the right time. I make no guarantees about the sloth bear.

Scaling a  mountain waiting for the sloth bear

Four little monkeys watching the zebras

We managed to see a red panda and one of the giant pandas that the zoo is known for. The boys’ favorite part was touching fossilized panda poop on display. Of course. They think anything on the topic of poop or any word that sounds like poop is hilarious. I’ve come to believe it’s hardwired into boys to be that way, because they didn’t get it from Brian and me. I’ve had other moms of boys say the same thing.

The kids liked interactive displays like this one.

POOP!

Since the renovation of one side of the elephant house (they’re still working on the other side), it is much easier to see the elephants, and it makes me happy that they have a much bigger home. The suspension bridge over the elephant enclosure is cool and only makes me a little nervous. There are also a couple other viewing places down below if you’re not into suspension bridges.

This last time we didn’t make it into the monkey house or small mammal house or reptile house, but all of those places are fun unless they’re crowded. The big cats are impressive to see. We got an outstanding, toothy yawn from a lion. The boys’ favorite part of the cats exhibit was touching a big ball that lions had played with, because they could touch the teeth marks and claw-scratches.

I know, I know. I should be a wildlife photographer.

The lion ball!

The whole way from the gate to the end of the zoo is downhill. I urge you to keep that in mind while gauging your tiredness. The farm animals are near the end, and we’ve actually never made it quite that far, though I’ve heard that especially the smaller kids like the farm animals.

Chloe had to leave before the best part, unfortunately. Surprisingly, it was the Prairie Dogs. Not because the animals themselves were cool, but because behind them is a kids’ prairie dog maze! It’s a bunch of plastic playground-y tunnels with various places kids can poke up and see out of, like prairie dogs! The three boys became squealing prairie dogs for a long time, and were extremely reluctant to leave their tunnels.

 The next favorite thing for them was dancing in the spray from the misters as we made our way up 

out of the zoo.

As far as eating, I recommend packing a lunch or snack and drinks, unless you’re cool with paying $9 for a standard hamburger or chicken strips, or if you don’t want a soda the size of a small water heater. There are a lot of tables to spread food out on in various places throughout the zoo.

Overall it’s a fun and worthwhile outing, albeit a bit tiring (especially if you metro). I recommend figuring out what your kids want to see the most and going there first so you don’t get worn out before you actually get to see the cool stuff!

5 Conditional Shouts! *Go anytime but the summer, know what you want to see, and allow enough time so you’re not rushed or utterly drop-dead tired by the time you leave.

Riding...a frog face?

Emu

Ahhhhh! Little misters in the mister
(sorry, couldn't help it)

Thursday Thesicle

The best zoo view is always from Grandma and Papa's shoulders.

Top Ten Moments

My Whispers and Shouts absence this week has been due to having my parents visiting. We’ve been at home, on a sojourn to DC, and to my in-laws’ lake house in southern Virginia. Needless to say I haven’t had time to write. So, to catch up on the latest Cal/Clark news I present to you without further ado or in any particular order,

Top Ten Moments from Grandma and Papa Week One.

* When Cal, while quizzically observing my dad’s mustache on the metro, said, “Papa has hair on his tongue.” And pointed to a stranger who also had “hair on his tongue.”

* When Cal claimed that his favorite animal at the zoo was the pretend panda bear. (a panda statue)

* Eight ceiling fans at the lake house. Need I say more? “I turn that fan on!” “NO! I turn that fan on!” "I love that fan!" No I love that fan!" etc.

* The boys steering the boat all by themselves in circles.

* Bouncing on Uncle Pierre's knees to his Elephant Song.

* Sitting at the campfire on the beach juggling the boys who were covered in marshmallows and sand and busy “cooking sticks in the fire and steam.” 

* Playing air hockey "ALL BY SELFS!"

* Mountainous frozen yogurt extravaganza after a long day at the zoo.

* Going to our playground and getting to introduce my parents to my mommy friends and the boys’ friends.

* Working on perfect baseball throwing form with Uncle A while throwing acorns into the lake.

Air hockey BY SELFS!

Up close and personal with the ceiling fans in the loft

Uncle Pierre's Elephant Song!

Best part of the zoo?

Playground!

Aforementioned frozen yogurt extravaganza

Zoo Gravel is the Best Gravel of All the Gravel

One of the few non-gravel moments

We took a trip to the Reston Zoo this morning with Best Friend Nick. Kids are supposed to like animals, right? Naturally curious about them, interested in seeing them, touching (some of) them, feeding them, etc. Here we go again with my boys and over-the-top obsessions. Gravel! There is gravel and even dirt all over the zoo! At least this trip Cal didn’t eat goose poop, but still. Kangaroos, farm animals, zebras, ostriches, camels, snakes…No. Gravel. Dirt. Throw it, push it, drop it, kick it. About the only interest they showed in animals was when Cal asked to get in the cage with the python and when Clark touched the baby goat. 

Gigantic bovine creature in your face? No big deal. Rocks please.

No, of course I didn’t let Cal get in the python cage! Why would you think that? Oh, and the fake rhinoceros. They did enjoy riding it.

The Reston Zoo is a great place and I encourage any local parents to take kids there…unless they’re obsessed with gravel. Also, if you want something to do this weekend, the Herndon Festival is going on with lots of activities and music and rides and food. I think we’ll take the boys to check it out. If I see gravel though, I am out. We will go to a place with the opposite of gravel. What is that? A pool? Bouncy toys? Pudding?