Boo at the Zoo

 This morning I had plans with my first trainee, Audrey, to participate in the Breast Cancer Awareness Walk in Orlando, but she texted me saying she thought she had a fever and neither of us went. But I did the most important part by donating when I signed up. So at 8am I zoomed up to Gainesville to attend in Boo at the Zoo with Mommy, Jacquie and Peyton. The original plan of meeting at the Pioneer Village Museum didn't work out. I forgot to first check the website to make sure they are open on Sundays! (Future reference: they are not.) I dressed up as Dorothy, which is always my go-to Halloween attire. And I was able to convince my mom to be Glinda, even if it was just for a few family photos in the backyard!! She was a cat for the event.

 I was really excited because I love seeing people dressed up especially in non-scary costumes, plus I hadn't been to a zoo in a long time, so I really hope they have all the animals out. Maybe since 2012 with Sana at the Brevard Zoo, which I need to take Michael to. And after we walked through all of the areas, we watched a bunch of dancer girls perform to Halloween songs, including "Thriller". Peyton couldn't take her eyes off of them. That's how she was with everything, but she kept her Princess Zelda wig on (not Raggedy Ann, come on people) and some of the kids knew that Jacquie was dressed as Link (not Peter Pan or Robin Hood).

 Peyton was mesmerized by the Squirrel monkeys, which was great because that's where we waited for a while in order to let one of Jacquie's friends (Courtney and her baby Aubrey) meet up with us. It was fun sitting there just because we got to see everyone pass by with their different costumes. A lot of little girls were still Anna and Elsa from "Frozen", I saw 4 Dorothys, some zombies, Ghost busters and Ninja Turtles seemed popular, and one girl was Boba Fett. Mommy really liked the girls that were dressed like cupcakes and donuts, with the dad dressed as a chef.

 I was really happy when the last dress up area was Wizard of Oz themed, with an area of crafted poppy flowers. And the Lion King characters were great, but once I began being in the pictures, we just used our phones. Even I'm out of practice and sometimes have trouble adjusting the settings just right, especially when the lighting keeps changing from in the shade to sunny, to indoors. I'll have to ask Michael to give me some lessons again. 

 I really feel like having a kid makes life a lot more fun and that is a big reason as to why I've wanted to spend so much time in Gainesville, or at least visit as often as I can. Doing things with Peyton for her to experience and see everything and get out of the house to try something new is really good for everyone. Yes, I know it is also a lot more responsibility and having a baby will take a financial toll (which I will learn in much more detail as time goes on), but if being a "married adult" means spending half of our time watching The Office on the couch for hours at a time even though we've seen all 9 seasons three times already, that doesn't really feel like living. It feels like wasting time and I've done enough of that.