Our trip was planned for Good Friday. On Thursday night, me and my kids went down to Curt's house and we cleaned the inside of his truck. He wanted to take it because it would hold all of us more comfortably - three in the front and three in the back. He also said it would be a trial run to see how we would get along for our upcoming trip to Florida - LOL.
(2 hours vs. 12 - HA!)
His truck was a mess...it hadn't been cleaned in forever. By the time I got there, he had an outdoor garbage can full of trash he had cleaned out, he had put all of the tools that had ended up in his truck back into his work trailer where they belonged and had two loads of laundry which included winter cover alls and blankets that Mason had sat on. He put me in charge of vacuuming the floor mats while he cleaned the dash. I vacuumed the seats and floors while he armor all'd the inside. It was looking pretty good by the time we finished, even though we ended up having to finish under flood lights.
My kids and I were back at his house early the next morning with McDonald's breakfast in hand. Curt met us at the door and said, "you like my shirt?...I don't know where it came from." I said, "ummm...that's my shirt." He started laughing and said, "Well, Dad washed it and it was hanging in my closet! It fits...I'm wearing it." It was a UK long sleeve t-shirt and it was a little snug on his biceps and his belly and not like any shirt I had seen him wear before...but hey...the blue made his eyes look bluer...so it was all good! We loaded up...my girls had their iPhones and Beats, Gabby had a book and some other things to keep her busy in a backpack, Edison had some toys and Curt brought along his "MiFi" so we had wi-fi access on the ride there. Before we left, I remember Emily saying, "This is our first blended family outing...I'm excited." I think we all were.
On our way to Louisville, Curt said, "I've got to stop and buy some new tennis shoes because these are going to hurt my feet by the end of the day." Gabby said, "Daddy, you have a new pair of tennis shoes at home." He said, "I know, Bill, but Emily, the fashion police, told me they were ugly so I don't wear them anymore." I glared at Emily. Her and Kensley started laughing. When he found a shoe store, he pulled in and said, "Come on Fashionista, you're gonna pick them out this time!" They weren't in there for long when Emily came out and said, "that was easy, I showed him which ones I liked and he liked them too." He paid for them and when he came back out to the truck, he changed into his new white and black Nike's. We were good to go...except it was near lunch time so we stopped and ate at Denny's.
When we got to the zoo, it was sooooo crowded. The line to pay to get in was crazy long! We kept wrapping around and would talk to Deonica Asberry and Christin Fayne each time we passed them. We stood in line for awhile and Curt, being the impatient man that he is, suggested I get online on my phone to see what a familoy membership cost. I did and our research showed that a family membership was cheaper than what it was going to cost each of us to get in seperately. The next thing I knew, he said, "you stay here in line, I'm gonna see if I can get us in quicker." While we were waiting, I took some pics of the kids...
Several minutes later he called me and said, "bring the kids over here...the zoo people think we are engaged." I found him at the entrance and he told me that we had a family membership in each of our names which included both of us and four kids. He showed his receipt and we walked right in :-)
Things were going well...we saw the warthog and the rhino, next were the giraffes, the ostrich, gazelle, addax and came upon the 4-D Theater. I can't even remember which 4-D movie they were showing...I know it wasn't the Dora the Explorer one. Curt bought our tickets, we waited our turn and went inside. Edison was fine and was enjoying his 3-D glasses. He was fine until the lights went out and the movie started...and then he was ready to leave. That's why I don't remember it. He kept getting louder and louder telling us he was scared. I was trying to comfort him. Curt was trying to get him to be quiet. When the wind started to blow in our face and the water sprinkled on us, Edison was done! He started screaming. I had to leave. I wasn't happy...
Thankfully, the movie was short, but when Curt, Gabby, Emily and Kensley came out, Edison was still upset and crying. I really hadn't helped with that because I told him how disappointed I was that I didn't get to watch the movie because he wouldn't watch it. I had tried to get him to hide his eyes, but with the 4-D effects, that wasn't working for him either - he could still "feel it". I was frustrated because I seem to miss out on a lot of things because he is little and doesn't understand. He also gets to a point where there is no explaining...he hears nothing you say...he just wants to cry and throw a "fit". Emily came out and tried to soothe him...that didn't work. Kensley and Gabby tried. Finally, we took off walking to the next exhibit and he calmed down.
By the time we got to the elephants, Edison had calmed down enough that Curt was ready to try to talk to him. Curt picked him up and put him on his shoulders and they had a "man to man talk". I caught it on camera...actually I have a short little video but here's a pic. I don't know what they talked about, but Edison was smiling and aiming to please Mr. Davis (for a little while anyway)...
We saw the zebras and some monkeys and visited the petting zoo...
And finally...we made it to the gorilla house...the event Curt had been waiting for. As we entered the gorilla house, we took pics of the kids inside the outline of a life-size gorilla. Curt had a picture of this from the last time he had taken Gabby. He got another one of her on his phone...I wish I would have gotten one on my phone. We walked in the gorilla house and were walking around taking in all the gorillas to see which ones were active. I found an open spot next to a window. Edison was standing right next to the window and a huge gorilla loped over right in front of Edison, like Edison had caught his attention...Edison freaked out!!! SCREAMING! He was climbing me like a tree and yelling for me to get him out of there! Emily and Kensley were embarassed and walked away. Gabby just stared at him like she couldn't believe how he was acting. Everyone in the gorilla house turned to watch us and felt sorry for Edison. I motioned Gabby to follow me and when I got outside, Curt was already there...he looked at me and said, "Oh my God...I have to have a cigarette." I just looked at him and said, "Really Curt? the smoking section is way over on the other side of the park..." and he just looked at me and said, "I'm not going to the smoking section...I'm just gonna find a place to light up." I said, "FINE!" and we all know what fine means - haha. Emily could tell that I was stressed and she offered to take Edison for awhile. I let her.
Kensley, Gabby and I went back inside to watch the gorillas for awhile. When we came out, Curt was waiting on us...in a little better mood but still a little stressed. I asked him if he got his nicotine fix and he said he had...he was good to go. I asked him if he wanted to go watch the gorillas for awhile and he said, "What about me and you come back one day with Kensley and Gabby and we'll walk through the zoo and read all these plaques and we'll watch the gorillas all we want to." I told him that sounded good. We continued walking and Curt even held my hand - LOL!
We observed several more exhibits and Curt was ready for another cigarette. Of course, being the rule follower I am, I got the map out and was trying to figure out where we were and where the smoking section was located. Curt just looked at me and said, "Dana...you are such a rule follower and I am so NOT a rule follower...I guess it's true what they say...opposites attract!" We walked over to a retaining wall and Curt and Gabby sat down. He positioned me so that he could smoke without anyone seeing him. I was a nervous wreck because you could see his smoke blowing. Every time he would try to take a draw, someone would walk by. He started complaining that everyone walked by at the wrong time. He said, "I just need three good draws and I'll be good for a little while." I was a nervous wreck. He started laughing and said, "What are they gonna do to us, Dana? Throw us all in the zoo jail?" He finally got his fix and afterwards I snapped this pic of him and Gabby. It's priceless :-)
We stopped by several more exhibits and finally met back up with Emily and Edison. I got some good pics of all of our kids together...
Eventually, we made it to the smoking section and sat there for some time. We were all exhausted and all stressed in our own ways! While we were there, Noah and Emily Hulett and their kids walked by and we enjoyed talking to them. Edison was drinking a red Powerade and spilled it all over Curt's jeans and his new shoes. Curt just looked at me and shook his head. I apologized for the fiftieth time, so did Edison. Curt asked Edison why he kept crying and Edison said "because all these animals is scary!" Curt looked at me again and shook his head and was ready with another lecture about how I needed to quit coddling him and turning him into a sissy boy! I quietly said, "I don't want a lecture from you while we are at the zoo." He smiled and let it go.
We left soon after and stopped at McDonald's on our way home. Edison spilled his drink. Kensley said, "ummm...are we still going to the beach this summer?" Curt snapped, "I don't know...what if we get there and Edison is scared of the ocean? That will be tons of fun!" I said, "Curt! He's four years old." He said, "He's a boy! He's not supposed to be scared of animals at the zoo!" I ignored him and stated, "I'm going to the beach with my three kids in July. You and Gabby are more than welcome to come along with us." Curt didn't say anything until after we finished eating. By then, he had relaxed and Edison was being good and he said, "I guess we're all going to the beach...but I'm going to have to figure out how we are getting there...because I absolutely cannot be in a car for 12 hours with all four kids."
Over the next few weeks, he kept trying to figure out if we should take both vehicles or rent something we could all fit in better. He talked to Ron Eldridge about flying him and Gabby. We talked about me flying commercially with Edison. The last time we discussed it...we were driving his truck and tying all of our luggage down on the flatbed in Rubbermaid totes - we were going redneck style --- haha!
Here is a pic of me and Edison in the front seat and Gabby in the back on our way to the zoo! I think we would have all gotten along just fine on that 12 hour trip to Florida. It's the trip home that might have ended our relationship :-)
And one last thing...this came in the mail a few days later...Curt handed me the envelope and said, "Look...our first piece of mail together." I was surprised to see my name on it (even if the name was wrong), I figured he would have gotten it in his name only since he was the one who paid. He said he did it that way because if he told them we were engaged, he could get it in both of our names, otherwise, if it was just in his name, he would always have to be with us and this way, if I wanted to go up without him, I could.
Wow! It's funny sometimes, how things work out.
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