lupazoo

[kip_w]

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I found another local site of interest to children: the Lupa Zoo, in Ludlow. I had been searching Google for the name of the animal park we see on a sign every time we head for Boston with Sarah. The sign is on a side road we take when we go to a Big Y store that we have taken Sarah to (for bathroom purposes) on every trip we take eastward on the Mass Pike. This was not that zoo, but it turned out pretty good.

I wasn't expecting it from their web page, which didn't inspire a lot of confidence. They offer a downloadable map, which identifies a large tract in the middle as future exhibit space. We took off without the directions I'd printed out, but it was still easy to find, and it turns out to be bigger than the Forest Park Zoo in Springfield. Admission was reasonable, and I bought a pack of Ry-Krisp crackers to feed to some animals. Almost all the animals seem to dote on Ry-Krisp or handfuls of dry corn, which are given to them via tubes, to prevent finger bites. We bought some corn from vending machines, and also picked up lots of fallen corn on the ground, which the animals did not disdain. They had lots of deer, some emus and ostriches, donkeys, tiny horse varieties, zebras, elk, reindeer, pigs, gators, turtles, monkeys of various kinds, a camel and a giraffe. Among others. I bought a second pack of Ry-Krisps. As it neared closing time (4:30 in the summer), we got Sarah a frozen Dora treat, and some fried dough for Cathy. Then it was time to go, and Sarah announced that she had to go, so we went back and found the restroom.

Coming back from the zoo, I asked Sarah what she had enjoyed. I didn't get an answer, because she was wildly convinced we were going the wrong way. When it became clear we were going the right way, she calmed down, and Cathy asked what she had liked the best. Sarah acted like a monkey for about five minutes. We got her quiet again, and a minute later, she was upset because an arm had broken off of a plastic Care Bear she had been concentrating on. I had her pass it up to me, and it was clearly unfixable. The broken plastic post was very stressed, and the two exposed faces weren't congruent any more. We expressed regrets.

"There's a place where they can fix these. Want to know where it is?" We said sure. "In China," she told us. I was half expecting this. Sarah is a fount of interesting information, much of it concerning China these days. "They have all the tools and all the parts." She amplified. "And they don't charge anything at all for people who were born there. I looked at their web site." Cathy made an "isn't that interesting?" sound. Sarah went on, still thinking of the parts. "Every computer has a little secret compartment in it." We encouraged her to tell us more. It turns out that the compartment is only on computers for kids, but I didn't ask how they knew whether a kid would buy a certain computer. Also, you can't break into it. You have to go to their web page and they will open it for you, and presumably, you can find a brand new Care Bear arm there, courtesy of the People's Republic of China.

All in all, a pretty good outing. Next time we can spend an extra $5 and they'll let us to up the stairs to a platform where we can feed the giraffe. The food's included in the $5.
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[kip-w.livejournal.com]

I don't know how soon learning some of the current realities of China will be. She's anxious to see the place, and we'd like to take her, but it won't be soon enough to suit her. She was crying about it last night: she wants to go back, she wants to find her birth mom and dad. She thinks she remembers all kinds of things (they told her about the bear repair thing when she was a tiny baby, she says).

And I know how she feels, I guess. I've told her how much I miss Colorado and my friends and family. I wonder if she's taking her cue from me.