The Zoo

We went to the zoo on Tuesday with Gammies and Papa because Tuesdays are Papa's day off and Gammies is out of school for the summer. It was a beautiful day and there were a ton of people there for a weekday. I think it was because the water park opened up and is attracking a whole new crowd of people who can ride the rides and then come over and see the animals. Not so sure how I feel about it. I kind of liked the zoo being the zoo and then the water park being separate similar to how it was when Wyandot Lake was open. But, I wasn't consulted first, so I need to just deal with it. haha!

Anyhow, we had so much fun. It was relaxing to go with my parents too. They didn't mind just stopping and sitting when Ethan needed a rest. One of them was able to take P and entertain her while I took care of the baby - it was great. I wish I always had an extra hand when I went on outings like that so P wouldn't have to miss anything, and I wouldn't have to listen to her complain and cry while I took care of E. Her complaining isn't a big deal because I expect it, but it can grate on your nerves when it is 20 minutes of constant whining.

The best part was reminiscing. I grew up on the Scioto River directly across from the zoo in an area called Shawnee Hills. I would fall asleep every night to the lions roaring and every now and then a concert in the zoo's amphitheater. It was really cool. It wasn't cool, though, when people would tease me for living there. Shawnee Hills wasn't the sought after place on the water that it is now. The houses that were originally built along the river on Shawnee Trail were built as summer homes, so they were all pretty small and had no air conditioning and some had no heat. Our house had no heat or air. We depended on a wood burning stove during the cold months and fans during the warm; but, we were kids and we didn't care. We loved having the river to swim and raft on, the yacht club to sneak into, the boats to sail and ski from and the frozen river in the winter to ice skate on. We had a big backyard to run in and we played back there from morning to night. We had a PO box for our mail because we didn't have home delivery for some reason. Our PO box was at a place call Tags, which is now Walgreens. It has grown up so much there, and now the houses on the water side can run upwards to $300K easy. Our house sold for five times what my parents paid for it in 1989. Of course, my dad being the hyper handyman he is left a pretty good piece of property for the next owners.

I remember the zoo had a riverboat ride that went up and down the Scioto. It isn't there any longer. Paxton and I used to get excited to wave at everyone if we were swimming or boating, the riverboat always packed with zoo goers. Now you can only enjoy a little water ride that is more like an amusement park ride that costs a $1 a person. Mom, dad the kids and I all took a little walk down to the area where the riverboat entrance used to be and looked across to where our dock stood at one time, talked a bit about how awesome it was to live on the water for so many years, and I talked a bit about how I wanted to take my friend Susan who works for Ghosts of Ohio down to Leatherlips Yacht Club so she could "feel" the spirits. The Shawnee Indians had settled in the area for a bit and I believe that is how Shawnee Hills got its name...but don't quote me on that. Leatherlips was one of the Shawnee Indian cheifs who had a park on the Riverside Drive dedicated to him. They say if you go to where Leatherlips is buried on Halloween at midnight you can see his yellow eyes and hear a war cry...yeah, right. We tried, it isn't true...but, there are some other things that happened at the yacht club that are true...and scary. Some of the photos on my wedding invitations were taken at the yacht club - Shane and I went one day and shot them.

Anyhow, it was a great day and it was nice to remember my younger days. Just to the right of the sailboats it the background of the picture was where I lived.