We took the kids and…

We took the kids and Kevin's mom to the zoo yesterday. It was really lovely, having Kevin awake early enough to do that -- he has bad insomnia, and a tendency to stay up later and later which leads to waking up later and later, and when you pair that with infants who wake up at night, it means that for most of the past four years, he and I have been on swing shift -- I go to bed around 9 and get up at 5; he goes to bed around 4 a.m., gets up at noon or later. We still see a reasonable of each other, due to academic schedules and both working at home a lot, but it's kept us from certain kinds of activities -- like going to the zoo early on a summer day, before it gets too hot. But for the past few weeks, Kev's been trying hard to switch over to a more normal schedule, going to bed around 1 and getting up at 9. That's still four hours off from me (and I suspect we'll stay that way, since I love the early morning, and he loves the late night), but it's much closer to regular-people-hours. Yesterday, we were out the door at 9:30, which felt like something of a miracle.

If we'd been smart, we would've planned to leave the zoo by 11:30 or 12, avoiding the heat entirely and getting the kids home in time for a decent lunch and nap. But the zoo is big, and somehow we ended up on the far side of it at 11:30, with the petting zoo still to go. So by the time everything was done, everyone was exhausted. We'll try to time it better next time. But despite that, I think quite a bit of fun was had by all. My favorite animals this time were the giraffes -- I think last year, when we got the zoo membership, we only went on cold, wintry days, when the animals were mostly inside. Yesterday, the giraffes were wandering around outside a much larger outdoor enclosure, and they were just tall and serene and magical. Love.

Our membership comes with a free guest pass every visit, so local friends, consider this an invitation -- if you feel like going and visiting some giraffes, drop me a line. (We also have six additional guest passes, so can occasionally take a larger group, if you want to bring partner(s) / friends / kids.) I had to threaten Kavi that if she didn't let us leave and take Anand home for his nap, we might never go to the zoo again -- that was the only way I could persuade her to actually leave the place, despite her being hungry, tired, and hot. So, y'know, I probably ought to take her back there.