*That* Family

There is a zoo kinda sorta in our backyard that features a lot of fun animals. It's not very big, so we lapped it 3 times in the space of an hour. The animals are close enough to see easily, and food is readily available to feed them so they're more than willing to come right up to the fence to be fed. It's a lot of fun.

Or would be, if Micah weren't involved. It seems that no matter where we go, we're *that* family.

Since the zoo is more of a petting type, the animals are kinda of the farm friendly variety. It's heavy on the llamas, goats, and ponies, which is alright because Micah liked these. Or at least wasn't afraid of them.



Turns out, the boy is terrified of large birds. I had no idea. As soon as we entered, there was a caged ostrich, and the boy freaked out.  He was also not a fan of the roaming geese, peacocks or ducks. And when the other kids were petting the emu, he tried his best to save them all from the imminent danger of Death by Bird Touching. He wasn't happy until we simply walked away and pretended that the bird did not exist.



I dispensed a few quarters to the kids to get snacks for the animals from the vending machines. (People, they're Cheerios and dog food. I'm not even kidding.) Micah's quarter was solid gold as far as he was concerned. He carried that thing around for an entire lap before making the choice to get Cheerios over dog food. He fed monkeys, and more monkeys, and monkeys again, and then ran out of food. I got the idea that the boy likes monkeys.

He does not, however, like large birds. Still. After the second lap around he remembered where the geese hung out and grabbed a handful of gravel to toss at them as he walked by. I curbed his tossing because the last thing I wanted was an angry, hissing goose to sneak up and bite the back of my leg. Or anything else. Geese scare me a little, and Micah a lot.



And then the boy stole my Diet Coke. Knowing that he can't drink out of a soda bottle, I let him take it. Backwashing can't happen, so it's harmless. Except, when did Micah learn to drink from a bottle? Backwashing can happen any time if he's going to acquire new skills. Go, him!



And while I was being all proud and mama peacock over the boy drinking from a soda bottle at age 8, he dribbled some down his shirt and we became *that* family. With his sensory issues, he doesn't do wet clothing. This poses problems in all sorts of forms. When something gets wet, it comes off. Depending on the severity of the wet, everything comes off. His shirt was stripped, and while I tried my best to get him to keep it on (look! I wiped it off! See? I rubbed it with gravel! Hey! A big, scary bird!) it came off anyway. And that's when I said, "kids, it's time to leave. Now." Thank goodness I kept Micah moving quickly toward the van, because as soon as he got inside, the shorts came off, too. Once an item is wet, he's not happy until *all* clothing is removed. If he does something, he does it all the way.

No matter where we go, we're *that* family. Awesome.