Reptile Rampage 2012

On Sunday we rocked the time change and went off to rampage with some reptiles. We loved on the lizards. We snuggled some snakes. Well that was the plan anyways. In reality, we wandered around a small gym stuffed to the rafters with herps and Calder pretty much refused to engage with any that weren't safely behind glass or even fake. Yes, for some reason on his third annual trip to go see animals that he purports to love, Calder developed a fear of touching them.

This is a boy that is unhappy about having to pose with a staff full of snakes

Pile o' Lizards

Weirdo. After a few turns around the gym we did manage to convince Calder that they were not going to eat him so I got enough photos to warrant a post. Wren had no issues whatsoever with the animals other than wanting to squeeze the smaller snakes like so many kitty tails.

Baby No Fear

And not a f*ck was given by this Iguana

There were a few non-reptile animals there as well. Some bugs and a bird and a dude with a tarantula that you could hold. Calder refused citing the very valid "I ascared of spiders" excuse. In order to persuade him I put the spider on my own hand(!) and so did Bruce. Wren was all for it but we couldn't let her get near the thing lest we owe that nice man a new tarantula.

Giant baby-eating snake

Nervous baby

The giant snake handler was a cool dude and I talked to him about his "lady". She spent the entire time trying to escape her baby gates which made a lot of people nervous for their smaller children. Of course, he assured us that they were all perfectly safe because the snake only eats once a month or so and (much to the horror of some nearby kids) she had just eaten two guinea pigs yesterday.

My lil' science nerd

This was deemed "safe" Calder can't read yet, obvs.

We went early, avoided the crowd and got out in under two hours. Calder didn't seem as into the animals as much as he has in years past but he still enjoyed himself even though we didn't buy him anything because we are the meanest parents ever and I don't like you right now. We did eventually bribe Calder with the promise of a Happy Meal to get him to voluntarily leave behind the sad PTA meeting food he had been coveting. This meant Bruce and I were returned to BFF status quite quickly even though we didn't buy him any tiny cheap plastic lizards that his sister would surely have eaten.