don't let the pigeon on the bus

Today I finally made it over to the Lincoln Park Zoo. The first year students left for LEAD Outdoor Experience (LOE) in Wisconsin so we had a group of partners meet up at the zoo in an effort to help people get to meet others.

This year the students are truly hitting the ground running. They had one day of orientation on Tuesday and were on the buses today at the crack of dawn. Last year they had at least a week before heading out to Wisconsin. It should be interesting to see how it impacts bonding. But back to my trip to the zoo.

I was the only one there of the six women who didn't have children. One woman left her son at home with his babysitter, a.k.a., her husband. When she told me he was sleeping, I thought she meant in the car and am sure had quite the worried expression on my face. It just seems so rare when the partners aren't with their kids.

The four children who did join us ranged in age from four months to three years. Overall they were very well behaved. Well, the oldest of the bunch did hop a fence and was almost eaten by the lions. Just kidding about the lions. He did hop a fence though.

A few of the women shared their birth experiences. Pretty horrific stuff. And scary considering these women were healthy and were not categorized as high risk. Thankfully all worked out and everyone is fine. I guess you just never know.

We saw a pretty good mix of animals. Some of the zoo keepers notes were sad. One of the zebras was being observed for seizures and one of the bears had had surgery on his jaw so his tongue was hanging out. The polar bear pen was being cleaned, so they were off somewhere else. There was a new gorilla baby though.

After about two hours we called it a day and I rode the bus home with one of the partners and her son who live in the same building. Today was the first time she had ever ridden a public bus in her life. Of course she had no idea the "expert" who was showing her the ropes.

When I got on the bus to go to the zoo I somehow managed to swipe my Chicago card three times much to the driver's dismay. Last time we took the bus there was a ding when we swiped the cards, but we were not charged. When you use the Chicago card on the El it shows you how much is being deducted. It apparently doesn't do that on the buses. It kept saying "REPEAT SWIPE", so that is what I did. I guess I am not a bus person.

currently reading :: Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems