Zoos and Carousels

Are what every girl should have on her birthday. And awesome friends as well.

My birthday was one of those days where you get this pang of grief because you know that its eventually going to end. I had so much fun it was absurd and I'm certain that it was not the kind of birthday a 25 year old should have, you know, all respectable and whatnot.

It began kind of cold and grey when I went to meet the Divine Miss M, my cousin Oogie, her sister the Pampered Chef, and my Aunt and Uncle at the Como Zoo.Yes, the zoo. Miss M even brought me a pink fuzzy hat that said "Birthday Princess" on it and yes, I did wear it. It was entirely preposterous and thoroughly enjoyable, and I got quite a few funny stares, thumbs up, and compliments on it. I'm sure it looked especially dashing on top of a hijab.

First we walked around the Conservatory which has quite the collection of gorgeous spring flowers right now, and then we took a turn on the carousel. I will post pictures of this on my flickr account at some point. Afterwards my Aunt and Uncle and the Pampered Chef took their leave and headed out to their lake property in Wisconsin for the holiday weekend. Pitching a tent in the woods is definitely not my cup of tea, but the property is absolutely gorgeous. I'll post some of the pics I took there last fall on the aforementioned flickr account as well.

Afterwards the Divine Miss M, Oogie, and I set off to walk around the zoo and look at the animals and by this point the clouds had burned off and the sun was shining in full force. We molested the turtle statue at the front entrance and then set off to wreak havoc amongst the crowds. I took quite a few pictures of random animal behinds since that seemed to be the side most often pointed at me throughout the day. After a certain amount of buttock it just became a game.

I also wanted to ride some rides but when we got to "Como Town" we found out that they had revamped it into munchkin land with nary a ride big enough for adult-sized people. Instead we carpooled to Fridley in search of a carnival in which to make merry. We also had a horrible dinner at Olive Garden but were given free dessert to make up for it. In Northtown Mall's parking lot a very small carnival was running so we bought some tickets and lined up. My specific desire was to ride the Tilt-o-whirl and the Scrambler, but only the Scrambler was up. Only... it wasn't the normal fun Scrambler, it was the cracked-out version where the operator cranked it up to warp speed and you spent most of the ride holding on for dear life. I personally found myself wedged into an uncomfortable contorted position with Oogie unwillingly plastered to my right side. I emerged from it shaken, bruised, and unable to walk a straight line. Still today I have the most God-awful bruise across my stomach in the shape of the lap bar. Without the lap bar I probably would not have survived, however I'm certain that its not the goal of a carnival ride to cause bodily harm.

Needless to say we did not ride it again and instead used the rest of our tickets riding the Mega-Slide which was fun as we made it into a race.

It was a delightful day, made more so by the company of my two closest friends. The Divine Miss M again proved the inherent rightness of the nickname I gave her as she spent ridiculous amounts of money on me stating that its my birthday and I shouldn't have to pay for anything.

Thanks dearest.

It was a good birthday, alhumdulillah.

Am I really 25?