Year 1: Bring the stroller. That adorable little baby, the one all snuggled in your arms, about the size of a football and twice as heavy? Yeah, wait an hour or two walking around a zoo and your arms will be ready to fall off. As much of a hassle as it is to bring the stroller, if you want to be able to move the next day, it's worth it. Oh, and you are unlikely to get any good photos...
Year 2: Stroller, check. Forgot rope to strap the child in. It's like driving a grocery cart with a bad wheel. The whole thing keeps veering to the right.
Year 3: If contemplating taking more than one child and second child is an infant, leave the infant at home. They can wait one more year; they wouldn't remember anyway. And then, if Big Curl has a fit of the dramatics because she's walked more miles than a toddler should and her rain boot just fell off, you can focus entirely on her and getting that boot back on her foot.
Year 4: Make sure you go to the bathroom before dinner. Can't leave Little Curl by herself. Can't leave the purse. Leave the jackets and pray they won't clear your food while you are wrangling two little girls into the handicapped stall of the women's restroom and then preventing one from sitting on the floor while helping the other use the bathroom. Oh, and did I mention, the bathroom is outside the restaurant?
Year 5: Check that you are not going on BOGO night. And then check again. Overflow parking a highway exit away, long line for the shuttle bus, long line to buy tickets, line for the bathroom (I learned my lesson last year, always go to the bathroom first), the restaurant we usually eat at is closed for a private event (who has a private event on BOGO night, shutting down one of the few places to go inside and get warm? I'll give you a hint... Intel), long line for the Zooliner. Skipping the train in favor of food, another cafe closed, last option open (Hallelujah!), animal straws bought as prizes for good behavior, leaving the restaurant only to hear the park is closing in 30 minutes. No animals seen (not surprising, it was cold), illuminated necklaces bought as reimbursement for no train or animals, only to manage to get on the second to last train of the night. And then worrying that we are too late for the shuttle back to the car.
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| You still won't get good photos... |
Bonus Lesson: Every year (including this one), Big Curl tells me it's the best time she's ever had at Zoolights. And this year, Little Curl gave me the biggest hug ever as I carried her from the car to the house. Every year, something goes wrong and every year our Zoolights trip is a rousing success.
But I am never, EVER taking the Curls on BOGO night again.
