Positively Petrified

 On the very last day of Spring break we used our membership and took a quick trip to the Nashville Zoo. We (I) packed a picnic lunch and were off to see the animals.  We've been so many times, we each have our favorites.  We talked about what we wanted to do along the way there.  We all agreed we wanted to feed the lorakeets,  it's our favorite thing there.  They land right on your arm and head and will fight for your love (food)!  After we feed the lorakeets, Jackson couldn't wait any longer to enter the dinosaur exhibit that just opened.  It's a paid exhibit so it was a one time thing for us but I knew he would love it and Lincoln was all in too.  We were going to see the dinosaurs.  We prepped Lincoln on the outside with a smaller, non moving dinosaur and even with big scary teeth, he wasn't even a little bit afraid.  We walked the boardwalk to Dino-trek and Lincoln was a little apprehensive but still not afraid.  We viewed the first one and I could visibly see he was scared.  I calmed him and told him it was just a robot and there was nothing to be scared of.  He growled back at it and proclaimed "you are only a robot!"
So on to the next dinosaur.  This one was smaller but it's teeth and roar were much louder.  It was a bit more terrifying just in looks but again I assured him it was only robot.  Then as we waked by with Lincoln trembling, that dinosaur spit a big stream of water ALL over us!  Lincoln lost his little mind with fear, he came up out of that stroller and was climbing my leg with terror.  I picked him up and that child clung to me for the rest of the tour.  By clung I mean something like a tick.  He put his head in the crook of my neck and wouldn't pry his little fingers out of my back.  I couldn't even begin to have him look at another.

He refused to look at these harmless (ha!) babies or even the plant eating Brontosaurus.  He wouldn't walk across the bridge or peek at the famed t-Rex.  He begged to go home, poor baby.  He was DONE with the zoo if it included these beasts.  

I was finally able to pry him loose near then end when we mentioned the sand box with the dinosaur bones.  He got down and started playing in the sand box, then he looked up and saw we were still within seeing distance of the terrible T-Rex and the choke hold started all over again!  I especially love how he puts his hands over his ears so as not to "see" the T-Rex anymore.  When the torture was officially over we all received stamps "just in case" we wanted to go back through.  Lincoln let her know that would not be happening.  When we walked away, Lincoln started chattering...about the dinosaurs.  He talked about the scary ones, the baby ones and the one that spit on him and went "rRrrrrrawr".  You would have thought he had the time of his life in there.  It was all he wanted to discuss.  We made our zoo rounds and stopped by for a merry-go-round ride.  Both boys loved this and I admit, I didn't mind it myself.  I'm kinda a sucker for swings and carousels.  After the carousel, Jackson begged Lincoln to go back through the dinosaurs one more time and believe it or not, he agreed.  I wondered if it would be any different and was almost convinced........until that dinosaur spit on him!  It started the terror all over again and this time, we didn't delay.  Lincoln was begging to leave and I was allowing it.  I was ready to depart anyway and I couldn't handle his pitiful claws any longer.  We sped through right past T-rex and out the front gates of the zoo.  Once we got home, they were both clamoring to tell Jason everything about the dinosaurs before he even asked.  Now, when you ask Lincoln about it, you'd believe it was his absolute favorite part of the whole zoo, possibly a highlight of his short little life.