The Carousel

Today we took Kimmie to the Birmingham Zoo. It was hot. It was humid. Even at 9:30 in the morning.

We saw the flamingos. We saw the elephants. We saw the giraffes and zebras. We saw the lion and tiger and other cats. Then we headed back to the giraffes to watch them be fed. Kimmie did not want to feed them; she just wanted to watch.

We have this issue with many of the places we try to take Kimmie, and that is that when she is sitting in her wheelchair she cannot see into the exhibits. Either they are placed at eye level for a standing adult, or there is a fence or rail that is right at her eye level which blocks her view. It is very frustrating.

On the zoo's website I had seen where they have camel rides. I had asked Kimmie if she would like to do this. She nodded, "Yes." The very first scene in the Aladdin movie is of a man riding a camel. When the camel stops it puts its head down and the man slides off down the camel's neck and over its head. Kimmie thinks this is very funny. We had visions of her wanting to dismount the camel this way.

Unfortunately the camel rides stopped on July 31, and the camels were packed up and taken to the Michigan State Fair! Kimmie was a little disappointed that she wasn't able to ride a camel. We told her that the zoo has a carousel and she was happier. When she wanted to ride the carousel, we headed for the children's museum area. She rode the carousel five times before saying she was ready to eat lunch.

After lunch we saw some other areas of the zoo. Then she wanted to ride the train. Daddy took her on the train.

By this time we were worn out from the heat and humidity, but Kimmie did not want to leave without riding the carousel again. Back to the carousel we went. She rode the carousel five more times. By this time she appeared to be in a trance from going around and around so much.

I think that unlimited ride ticket was worth the money! Ten times on the carousel and once on the train.

She was in such a trance when we left that she didn't even think about wanting to go in the gift store!

--Mom