May 22 – “Day nineteen: Adopting Leroy”

Yesterday was zoo day.  Yep.  An actual zoo where they have animals on display and not in the wild.  It was an interesting change from our last few weeks.  A lot of it was pretty typical.  Feeding the giraffes and sloths.  Watching the monkeys play and the tigers sleep.  They did have a carrousel that AnnaGrace and Luke really enjoyed.  In the reptile house AnnaGrace even had a lizard interacting with her through the glass.  Best I could do was chat with an old turtle.  They had several gigantor ants roaming the facilities big enough for kids to climb on.  That was strange.  Not as strange as the sign I saw, though.  I’m not sure I understood the implications of its message.  Here it is: “Bears, Welcome.  This play area for the enjoyment of children ages 2-12 years old.”  So it is encouraging bears to enjoy children?  For lunch??  Hmm.  The best part of the day came when we managed to arrange for adoption of Leroy the Lemur.  He rode in the back seat with Luke and the rest of the gang to lunch.  Luke and Leroy.  Quite the pair.

 

Lunch was at the Original Oyster House.  So is that the Original Oysters, or the Original House?  They had a sign up that said they started in 1983.  Guess that’s when oyster houses were born, since I have a hunch oysters have been around a lot longer.  We had the best deadpan comedian since Tim Conway for our waiter.  Never stopped talking.  Not extremely efficient as a waiter, but most definitely entertaining.  We all had some alligator bites as an appetizer.  I think everyone at least tried it, too.  Way to be brave, kids … and Christi.  Chris had gumbo and a salad.  She said her gumbo had the consistency of pudding.  Interesting.  I had fried flounder and shrimp.  Hard to mess up the classics.  Zak and I shared a piece of key lime pie for dessert.  Josh came back later and got a second piece for him and Christi to share.  Tim Conway never brought it the first time around.  I would p-lace it about third or fourth on the list.  Not close to the top, though.  Josh and Christi took the kids to an ice cream shop for their dessert.  They were happy. 

 

From there we drove back to the condo.  But we took the scenic route.  Christi wanted to see what the rest of the area looked like.  Taking in the island sights, so to speak (To which Caleb will faithfully reply, “It’s not an island.  It’s a peninsula”).  There was not much water to be seen on this trek.  They operate on the Miami principle of construction.  Build twelve story hotels right on the waterfront so no one driving by can see it.  We finally gave up and headed back to the condo for some more swimming and hanging out in the pool. 

 

Jer called while we were there.  We talked to him about the plans to meet him today.  In fact we have to get on the road soon to meet the gang at the Gulf Shores Super WalMart.  We are joining forces (and consolidating into one car) for the drive to the museum on a naval base.

 

Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

 

Father, be with the Tim Conway guy as he works to support his family.  Continue to provide him with experiences that he can translate into hilarity to give his customers a fun time as they dine.  Amen.