Happy Birthday, Happy Hollow, Happy Camper

Frank and I returned from Oklahoma on Wednesday May 23, shortly before Alex's and my shared birthday on Saturday May 26th. On the eve of his birthday, St. Denis Home threw a pre-birthday Friday night party for Alex and another client with a May birthday. Here is Alex waiting to start celebrating with his housemates.

Alex had birthday banners and a super sized extra frosted cupcake, a St. Denis tradition.

He blew out the candle on his cupcake. Blowing out candles is Alex's favorite part of his birthday.

The next day on his actual May 26th birthday, Frank and I took Alex to Happy Hollow, a small scale zoo with some amusement attractions as well. At the entrance are big rectangular rocks in a circular formation, fun for young visitors to leap from one to another. It was perfect for the young at heart, too as Frank demonstrated.

Alex followed suit with a modified step up and step down motion instead of leaps. Frank's were not really leaps either, rather large giant spanning stretches.

A menagerie of bronze sculptures were just outside the ticket entrance gates. Alex rode astride a sleek lioness.

He petted a monkey pandering for tips.

Isn't the little critter cute? He reminds me of Aboo from Disney's Aladdin.

Alex was not too much into the mama pig and piglets but they caught my fancy.

Another sculpture was of a "Cash Cow" who took in paper cash and output coins as change.

The pudgy sculptures are by Tom Otterness who per Wikipedia is "an American sculptor best known as one of America’s most prolific public artists. ... His style is often described as cartoonish and cheerful, but also political. His sculptures allude to sex, class, money and race." Coincidentally Frank and I recently returned from a day trip to Wichita, Kansas (post for June 7, 2018) and that is where Tom Otterness was born.

Once inside the park, on our way to the zoo portion, we rode a roller coaster. It was not  huge but it did make two loops that were sufficiently energetic that I was slightly nauseous upon disembarking. But Alex loved it.

  

Frank and Alex negotiated a maze.

It was intricate enough to be a challenge when you were in it, but easy enough to figure your way out.

We explored how Alex measured up to a giant panda.

When we visited the meerkats, one brazenly came up close to the glass to check us out. They are social creatures and, from a distance, look adorable clustered in a group called a "mob". If it weren't for that long fang and long nails this individual would seem much more cuddly and appealing. Meerkats eat termites. I am not sure whether this behavior makes me like them more or less.

The cheetah observed us from a distance, quite relaxed on a ledge. 

I could not resist this portrait of three gorgeous faces - a trifecta of facial perfection.

There is a small shallow pool central to the lower zoo. Here round flat-topped stepping stones are placed to provide adventurous souls an alternative, challenging method of crossing rather than circumventing the water.

Alex and I took a seat in the surrounding adirondack chairs to enjoy watching kids and their parents negotiate the mini-obstacle course. Some parents were quite relaxed and let their kids skip, hop, and jump across. Other parents were so up tight, fretting and hanging on to their kid's hand as if a wet shoe or sock would be the end of the world. Observing people is fun. Alex was content to chill.

We were separated from Frank and so I texted him where to find us. I used the speaking option with Siri on my iPhone. Siri does the best she can but is not a grade A speller with respect to voice recognition. Siri can be dense. I often have to spell things out for her. Here is my (blue) text exchange with Frank (gray). 

 He found us!

We planned where we would go next – to the upper zoo also know as "Zoo on the Hill".

We did indeed see a giant anteater – at least parts of him – but he was not as cooperative for photos as other animals had been.

 I asked Alex if he had had enough and was ready to go home. His grin and quick nod told us yes.

The parking lot is separated from the park and zoo by two suspension bridges. Frank and Alex are crossing the first one on our way out.

Angling off to the right in a second bridge that we all must cross to get to the car.

On the way home we stopped at Rigatoni's, an Italian restaurant, for dinner. We did the birthday candle blowing ritual again. Alex had his candle in a piece of bread.

I blew out the candle placed in my ravioli.

Monday the 28th was the Memorial Day holiday and Alex did not have school. Frank and I went to take him bowling and give him a birthday present from us to open.

See? Isn't Alex going to look snazzy wearing that meerkat shirt? He liked it.

The following Wednesday Alex was off to his annual summer camp, Via West in Los Altos. The theme for the week we chose for him was Euro Disney. The seven day camp had two field trips, one to a San Francisco Beach and one to the Walt Disney Family Museum. Per Wikipedia, The Walt Disney Family Museum is "an American museum that features the life and legacy of Walt Disney. The museum is located in The Presidio of San Francisco, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco". For the on site camp days Alex was given a camper award.

Alex's counselor was Moji – yes like Emoji without the E. 😀They enjoyed each other.

And so ends the tale of a Happy Birthday at Happy Hollow for a Happy Camper!