The Terrible Catsafterme

I had my work cut out for me after I got  back from Gatlinburg, with lots to do and little time to do it. I would be leaving for my next big trip in two weeks and the countdown was on. For starters, Ashleigh’s 1995 Chevy Prism had died while I was in London. Mom and Bob had hooked her up with a used 1996 Toyota Camry and I needed to go through all the rigmarole of getting the title transferred and all that good stuff. The grass had been growing and growing all this time as well, so I cut it for the first time of the year on April 12 – despite the sputtering, stalling mower that couldn’t capably deal with such long grass.

And can you guess what else needed completed around mid-April? Yep, that’s right, Ashleigh and I finally took down the Christmas tree on April 14. (Yeah, shut up). And of course, we had to get our taxes completed and submitted by the 15th – the same day as the Sean Hannity book-signing fiasco at the U.C. Campus. We were there with work ready to sell his books; he didn’t show up. So with all of these chores and responsibilities, I figured that it would be a good time to take off for the weekend and go to the zoo.

But honestly, it wasn’t the zoo itself that drew me in, it was the prospect of spending time there with my nephew and niece Adam and Megan. Mom, with Grandpa in tow,  took a little longer than expected to get over to my house Friday night, April 16, 2010, so we had a bit of a late start after stopping at the Burger King by my house. It was getting close to the kids’ bedtime when we arrived Denise and Aaron’s house in Westerville.

There had been a new addition to the Ockerman family: the Wii game. Adam had already mastered the system and had helped create ‘characters’ for the members of our family. We played baseball and bowling. I fared ok, but certainly wasn’t performing up to Adam’s standards. I slept in the basement that night, having been the bowling loser.

Adam exercises his Wii chops

A haunting self-portrait of Megan and me. Unfortunately I wasn’t using a 3D camera

I got up extra early on Saturday morning in order to go meet my old camp friend Eric Hubble at Bob Evans that morning at 6:30am. It had been since January 2008 since we had met up. It’s hard to believe it had been over two years, but as always, the conversation just flowed like no time had passed. I felt myself wanting more time to chat about the incredible number of topics that keep me in stitches over my pot roast hash.

Old Woodland Altars camp buddies Eric Hubble and me

I went back to Denise’s place and waited for everyone to eat breakfast and get ready. We made it to the Columbus Zoo, which many consider to be the best zoo in America – if not second to San Diego – not long before 10am and began our odyssey of animal voyeurism. I won’t try and describe all of the animals that we saw. You’ve all been to the zoo, I’m assuming. So I’ll just let the pictures do the talking and throw in a few picture captions to spice things up a bit.

It was so chilly on this morning that I had to borrow Mom’s sweater again and buy some hot chocolate. Denise had season passes and was able to get us in free.

Megan is bundled up and looking cute

Adam confronts some sort of sea otter

Megan takes her turn in the petting zoo. Mom inexplicably wears a blanket.

Adam confronts a web-footed lion

Shoving Grandpa Murphy

Megan referred to the tigers as TIGEEES. This one with Adam on its back, however, wasn’t real.

Something seems fishy to Adam

Make way for the Lemon Parade…

Rule #34: Never turn your back on a kangaroo

Adam and Megan strike a rare cooperative, smiling pose in the food court. I had fries from Charley’s Steakery.

Fourth most entertaining moment of the day: before he could take his first bite of his hot dog, this kid dropped it on the floor, bun and all. But that’s not the funny part. That came when a worker walked by about three seconds later and simply swept it into a dustpan and walked away.

This large-mouthed gorilla at one point threw his entire body into a fiberglass wall that separated him from the zoo patrons. There was a worker near the glass so I don’t know if he was just fooling around or he truly wanted to eat her head

Either Pongi or Cassie and me. I have trouble telling gorillas apart.

Adam and the REELA. That’s Megan-speak as if you hadn’t guessed.

Barbara Mandrill

I know you will be surprised to learn that this black man and these gorillas are not real

Adam’s absolute favorite part of his Columbus Zoo experience

We left the zoo around 2:00 that afternoon. My sincere apologies to all of the tigers, penguins, alligators, manatees, elephants, and dragons who did not get pictured in this posting. But I would have to say that the third most entertaining thing that I saw this day didn’t involve any of the zoo animals. It involved two birds who were wrestling around just off of the walking path. Whether these birds were fighting or having sex, I have no clue, but they did it for a full five minutes, with people watching from close by. Then they just flew off. Most interesting animal activity I’ve seen live – EVER.

We went back to Denise’s that afternoon and hung out at the house. I did quite a bit of Facebook-messing and playing a bit of Wii. Everyone else just played the Wii. Grandpa joined the ranks of the rest of the pro bowlers in the house. He did however have some major issues getting the golf swing down – as the video below will prove. Second most entertaining moment of the day. Still, it’s great to see an 86 year old man embracing the new technology.

Megan ignores me and yaks away on the phone

At about 6:30 we all headed out to find the nearest and most convenient Chinese restaurant. Notice I didn’t say ‘good’. We ended up at the Wok Buffet (a most original name if there ever was one), which had to be one of the worst Chinese restaurants I’ve ever frequented. Still, it was yummy in a disgusting way. The ice cream dessert had to be scooped out of a freezer with a spoon. Even the always-beloved crab rangoons were mealy. And I’m certain that some of the chicken was actually made from a bean bag chair. We left at about 7:30, bellies full. It would soon be time to pass the favor on to our toilets. But I’ll have to say that the Number One most entertaining moment of the day was when Adam sneezed at dinner and blew a huge wad of snot simultaneously out of each nostril.

Even bad Chinese food is too tempting for Mom

I always suspected that Elmo was a lo mein buff

Thank you Mommy for the MSG!! Grandpa simply doesn’t care.

It was a great day, but it was time to get home to begin the next round of the insanely tight and busy schedule: doing the laundry, cutting the grass, packing, and preparing for another weeklong trip, followed by another week of adventures back home. Don’t let me fool you; I LOVE vacation season!

2010 will continue…

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 at 6:05 am and is filed under 2010's - Early, Family Life, On the Town. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.