You Would Be Proud

You would be proud of me for what I did yesterday. And what was it I did yesterday that you would be proud of me for? Well, I’ll tell you.

I *whispers conspiratorially* left the house. 

I mean I really left the house, and not just to go to work or to Walmart. Nope, I went to — are you ready for this? I went to Memphis.

Yes, you read that right. After all these years, I finally made it back up to the zoo.

The last time I went, they were still building the Zambezi River Hippo Camp.  Yeah, and that opened in 2016.  I'd been wanting to go see it, but the older I get, the harder it is to leave the house, and honestly, if I hadn't told Cody I was coming, I wouldn't have gone this time, either. 

On that note, there was a miscommunication between us.  When they were down for the company picnic two weeks ago, I'd said I was planning on coming up last Friday.  He told me if I wanted until this Friday, he and Brennan could come and we'd all go to the zoo together.  The miscommunication was, I'd said Friday, but he heard Saturday.  They did come, but I had to wait until he got off work at 3:00.  

So, the thinking was, if I went on a weekday, all the kids would be at school and the zoo would be less crowded.  I thought wrong.  Every single school in Memphis must have been out yesterday, and most of them seemed to be taking a field trip...to the zoo.  Still, shrieking kids aside, it was a nice trip. I didn't take a whole heck of a lot of pictures, because all I had was my phone, but I'll post a few of my favorites.   As always, I'll add the rest to my albums on Facebook and MeWe. 

First up, this is LeLe the male giant panda. 

The Burmese Python. 

They had the place all done up for Halloween.  This was one of many decorations, but this is the one I wanted to swipe and set up in my front yard. 

One of the African elephants.  

And, of course, Boudreaux the alligator.  OK, I don't know that that is what his name is, but to me, all alligators are Boudreaux.  

And some seahorses.  You might want to keep the sound muted for this one.  There was a very loud lady with some very loud kids right behind me.  

Next time, we're definitely going to have to coordinate better.  It was nice to spend time with Cody and Brennan.  It would have been nicer to spend more time with them.  

After we left the zoo, we went and had dinner at Huey's in Southaven.  That was a blast from the past, because it's where we used to eat when we'd go hang out at the old Hank Of Yarn store, just across the parking lot.  It's still good, and the burgers are still thick, and I told Cody, "I don't know if I can open my mouth wide enough to eat this."  

And finally, Cody got to go see Weird Al in concert last week, and he brought me a t-shirt!  

He'd told me he was going to go see Weird Al, and I thought he meant the movie, but no, he meant actual Weird Al. I told him I was jealous.  Actual Weird Al is probably the only concert my introvert self would ever actually go to. 

Now, I've got to go.  I've got football to watch, and need my computer to see it all. 

Laters.