The Zoo

We have decided to start venturing out more with the girls on the weekends this year. We signed up for an annual pass to the Zoo, which I actually won at my company picnic last year. The picnic raffle is a funny story, so I’ll share it. We arrived several hours late to my company picnic at the Zoo last summer, and as a result, they told us we had to take our raffle ticket directly to the front of the room to get it in the raffle bucket since they already started giving away prizes. There were about 200 Accenture employees and family members there and all were eagerly awaiting the final drawing for the “Grand Prize”, the Annual Family Pass to the Zoo.

So, Ben drops our ticket in the bucket and it’s quickly mixed up into the bunch and names continue to be called for t-shirts, movie passes, etc. I think they were giving out prizes for about 1 hour before we arrived and folks were ready to leave and tour the zoo but you had to be present to win, so they waited and waited and waited. Finally, (10 min after we arrived), they pulled the raffle ticket for the final grand prize drawing and announced “the Kniesly Family”. YES!! Now, that is what I call being Fashionably Late!!

So, we cashed in our certificate and now have a Family pass to the zoo, this includes Alex who is now only 17 and is my step-daughter (not my step-sister any longer). How did that happen, you ask? Or, as Ben asked, “you actually think they will believe I have a 17 year old daughter? Why wouldn’t you just say she was your daughter?, You look older than me!”, (which I personally disagree with by the way). Well, let me explain.

I was at the counter signing up the family when she asked for the kids names and ages. We wanted to include Alex since she is visiting us soon and the zoo is on the itinerary while she is here. I quickly rattled off Lillian 2, Emily 2 and Alex 17, at which point, she asked for birthdates. I freaked a little bit and I could feel my armpits starting to itch (that’s what happens to me when I get really, really nervous). I quickly told her the twins birth-date and then while she was writing that down, my mind was racing to attempt to figure out what 2010 – 17 was….. armpits continuing to itch.

She looked up at me and I had nothing but a blank look, I said…”um, um, 1985?!”, to which she quickly responded, “oh she is too old for this then, you have to be under 18”, so I said, “well, let’s see.…I should know this but …..she’s not really my daughter…she’s my step-daughter and I’m horrible with this stuff.” And then I turned around to yell across the way to Ben, “hey babe, what year was Alex born again?”, when the man standing behind me and wanting things to move along so he could get his annual pass blurted out, “1993”. So, that is how Alex ended up being my 17 year old step-daughter (Alex, please don’t think that means we will be buying you school clothes or sending you to college, a free pass to the Zoo and that experience I went through to get it, should be enough).

Now, after writing all of this down, I can clearly see that I lied and this is a blog that will be turned into a book for the girls to show proof that we love them (and that we too lied at one time or another). Great!?

Once in the gates we had a wonderful time, feeding the stingrays, looking at the manatees and turtles, listening to a story about penguins, lovin the lama, petting goats, riding the choo-choo train and playing in the kids hut. Can’t wait to go again!