School Holidays are coming up. Two weeks off in between terms. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE year round schooling! LOVE it. You nea-sayers really need to rethink this plan. It works and it's awesome.
Anyway it reminds of last year during our first Holidays break. The girls are in preschool so they go to school during the holidays (YES! YES! YES!) so Teddy and I would plan special days for just the two of us. We'd do things that we couldn't do with the girls. This day we chose to go to the Australian Reptile Park - here's the link http://www.reptilepark.com.au/ It's pretty cool.
We had bought the car about 3 weeks earlier and I was still terrified to drive. This trip involved the highway and for humor's sake we'll call them road signs. Sydney's maps are utterly insane and have nothing to do with the actual roads that are layed on the ground. Anyway, we get on the road and I can't remove my fingers from the AAA approved "2" and 10" position on the steering wheel and we're off. About 10 minutes outside of Sydney we start seeing signs for the park. THE AUSTRALIAN REPTILE PARK! THIS WAY TO SEE ERIC! It starts off. These signs are good because they actually have something to do with pointing out things that are on this road - unlike other Australian road signs. Anyway, as we move closer, more signs. COME SEE ERIC! OUR VERY OWN CROCODILE!, more down the road 5 KM UNTIL ERIC! THE AUSTRALIAN REPTILE PARK'S OWN CROC! You get the point, there are signs everywhere for the croc. And apparently for 20 or so years this croc has been the main draw for this park.
There's some massive road construction once we get off the highway so actually, I'm grateful for the big huge croc signs posted now every 100 meters. It's kind of soothing knowing that with each inch forward I drive, with every breath I take, I am closer to bonding with ERIC! OUR VERY OWN CROCODILE!
Pull into the parking lot, take the tourist pictures in the entry way, go inside and see a life size replica of Eric in the lobby. It's very cool, and I'm looking forward to meeting the big guy himself, if for no other reason than quite honestly, I'm getting a little tired of hearing the name. No offense to any Eric's or lovers of Eric, just a little done with the name.
Go up to the counter ask to pay for one child and one adult. Now read this next line with the best Michael Palin impersonation you can do.
The response is, "$22.50 for the adult, kids are free today...Eric's dead!"
Pause...pause...pause...blink...blink...
"I'm sorry, what did you say," "Kids are free....Eric's dead. He died a few days ago, want to sign his card?"
Now at this point I have Monty Python's "Dead Parrot" sketch searing through my skull. THIS IS AN EX-CROCODILE!
Of course Teddy is next to me, "Who's dead, is someone dead? Who died? How did he die? Can I see him?"
You see a few days prior Eric, may he rest in peace, caught a cold, which turned to pneumonia and thusly he perished. Crocodiles may be a dime a dozen up in Queensland but down here it takes a while to replace them. Soooooo, Teddy got in for free, signed, "Sorry you're dead. Love, Teddy" on the card to the park and inside we went. All the while I have John Clease and Michael Palin fighting over what is a dead bird screaming in my brain. When that finally dies down I get Eric Idle singing,"Always look on the Bright Side of Life" in to fill the void.
Now, one year later if someone mentions that an event or something is free for kids I say, "Oh, is Eric dead?"
Anyway it reminds of last year during our first Holidays break. The girls are in preschool so they go to school during the holidays (YES! YES! YES!) so Teddy and I would plan special days for just the two of us. We'd do things that we couldn't do with the girls. This day we chose to go to the Australian Reptile Park - here's the link http://www.reptilepark.com.au/ It's pretty cool.
We had bought the car about 3 weeks earlier and I was still terrified to drive. This trip involved the highway and for humor's sake we'll call them road signs. Sydney's maps are utterly insane and have nothing to do with the actual roads that are layed on the ground. Anyway, we get on the road and I can't remove my fingers from the AAA approved "2" and 10" position on the steering wheel and we're off. About 10 minutes outside of Sydney we start seeing signs for the park. THE AUSTRALIAN REPTILE PARK! THIS WAY TO SEE ERIC! It starts off. These signs are good because they actually have something to do with pointing out things that are on this road - unlike other Australian road signs. Anyway, as we move closer, more signs. COME SEE ERIC! OUR VERY OWN CROCODILE!, more down the road 5 KM UNTIL ERIC! THE AUSTRALIAN REPTILE PARK'S OWN CROC! You get the point, there are signs everywhere for the croc. And apparently for 20 or so years this croc has been the main draw for this park.
There's some massive road construction once we get off the highway so actually, I'm grateful for the big huge croc signs posted now every 100 meters. It's kind of soothing knowing that with each inch forward I drive, with every breath I take, I am closer to bonding with ERIC! OUR VERY OWN CROCODILE!
Pull into the parking lot, take the tourist pictures in the entry way, go inside and see a life size replica of Eric in the lobby. It's very cool, and I'm looking forward to meeting the big guy himself, if for no other reason than quite honestly, I'm getting a little tired of hearing the name. No offense to any Eric's or lovers of Eric, just a little done with the name.
Go up to the counter ask to pay for one child and one adult. Now read this next line with the best Michael Palin impersonation you can do.
The response is, "$22.50 for the adult, kids are free today...Eric's dead!"
Pause...pause...pause...blink...blink...
"I'm sorry, what did you say," "Kids are free....Eric's dead. He died a few days ago, want to sign his card?"
Now at this point I have Monty Python's "Dead Parrot" sketch searing through my skull. THIS IS AN EX-CROCODILE!
Of course Teddy is next to me, "Who's dead, is someone dead? Who died? How did he die? Can I see him?"
You see a few days prior Eric, may he rest in peace, caught a cold, which turned to pneumonia and thusly he perished. Crocodiles may be a dime a dozen up in Queensland but down here it takes a while to replace them. Soooooo, Teddy got in for free, signed, "Sorry you're dead. Love, Teddy" on the card to the park and inside we went. All the while I have John Clease and Michael Palin fighting over what is a dead bird screaming in my brain. When that finally dies down I get Eric Idle singing,"Always look on the Bright Side of Life" in to fill the void.
Now, one year later if someone mentions that an event or something is free for kids I say, "Oh, is Eric dead?"
