This Way or That Way

Adventures at the Natural Science Center

I have a few tricks up my sleeve to serve as distractions to less-than-exciting days. One trick is a ASTC pass, which stands for the Association of Science-Technology Centers. This little pass that costs me $55 per year will get me into any Science center in the nation. As a bonus, it also gets me into all zoos and aquariums in America.

After noticing that my arms and shoulders were beginning to fatigue from pushing the kids in the swing for literally

I decided we would get our money's worth out of our pass. We headed to the Natural Science Center.

Roundabout was fascinated by the snakes, asking time after time if these snakes are poisonous and/or live in North Carolina, and since the answer was yes!, how to escape one if she ran into one nose to nose. Green Light loved looking at the Clown fish because he was just sure it was Nemo in that tank. Rest Area just took it all in and mainly......you guessed it.....rested. We got lost in the frog maze for awhile before heading outside to see the animals.

There was lots to see in a limited amount to sun-basking time...

We hit our favorites first, just in case disaster struck and we didn't get to see everything. First off were the tigers, monkeys, and wallabys. The turtles were so enormous that they looked fake. The monkeys could hang from the ropes all day, I think. And the alligators. Well, those sneaky creatures were nothing but

Our last stop was the petting area, where we the kids were free to pet goats and sheep that were so tame that they didn't even acknowledge our existence. They went on about their business, eating dirt and wandering around. It was as Green Light was petting

that my mom spotted

in the distance.

We quickly washed our hands and hurried over to see it. His feathers were beautifully displayed as he stood still and quiet for me to take his picture. I'd never come face to face with a peacock. I assumed they were kind birdly creatures. I had that kind thought for about a split second...when Green Light decided he wanted to take a closer look. I wonder if he may have even wanted to pet him...and Mr. Peacock was not impressed! This story only goes down hill from here, but if you keep reading, you'll find that it ends happily.

I discovered that peacocks can hiss and their beautiful feathers move in sync with their hissing. I also witnessed that peacocks will chase you down if you enter their territory. Being a curious little 2 year old boy, Green Light was clueless that he was about to be pecked to death. I had Rest Area in the Mai Tai carrier and couldn't exactly move quickly enough to save my son. But my mom could! She rushed in between the bird and the boy, grabbed his hand, and ran! Mr. Peacock was still not impressed and did make a few strides towards them...but in the end, we escaped unscathed.

Whew!