Hoping for a Lamb

Every March when I was in elementary school our desks had either a lion or a lamb picture on front. Although we were allowed to choose our animal, it typically broke down among gender lines with lambs on the girls' desks and lions for the boys. The saying that March comes "in like a lion and out like a lamb" could not be a more apt description. The middle of the month, however, is typically wrought with wild weather fluctuations.

I know it may not last more than a day or two, but spring definitely feels as if it has arrived. The tulips are beginning to poke through the dirt. The squirrels are bouncing around the yard, seemingly doing surveillance work so that they will be able to quickly bite the blooms off the tulips as soon as they open.

Robby and I have been counting down to March 13th since the end of September. This Saturday, barring torrential rain or snow, Robby and I will bundle up and head to one of his favorite places. Tomorrow, the local animal park petting zoo opens. To be honest, I am almost as excited as I was on Christmas Eve!

We have been taking Robby to the zoo since he was born. We have season passes, and we often go a few times a week. During the winter when the zoo is closed, I typically fill the extra time by baking cookies. Unfortunately, the cookies have caught up with both of us, especially my thighs. I am thrilled that we will be outside again!

Robby has been chattering about returning to the park all winter. He has finally stopped crying every time I drive past the closed gates. I felt helpless as the tears streamed down his little cheeks. He was just too young to understand that the park closes during the winter.

After he wakes up tomorrow and finishes his milk and breakfast, I am going to tell him the good news. We are going to the animal park. It's time for him to go and visit his goat friends.

I predict that he will wave to his Daddy as he vaults down the stairs and frantically tries to step into his beloved froggy boots. I'm sure that we will go through several verses of "Old MacRobby Had a Farm" during the short drive to the animal park.

I am just hoping that the weather is leaning more towards the "lamb" side, so that he can play with a real one again! But since it's March, and the weather is unpredictable, I have stocked up on butter and sugar in case my plans fall through and we are forced to occupy our day baking cookies.

This is a picture taken last year at the animal park.