Now, keep in mind that I’m horrible about taking pictures. I’ve never been particularly good at it, but I just don’t think about stopping, posing, taking a picture, and then having to do it all over again six steps later. Some people are just good at it. I’m not. But, after a conversation that Jinx and I had last night about our new life, we decided that we’re going to be taking a lot more pictures and starting an online scrapbook. I don’t know how well that will work out in the end, but at least we have a plan that just needs an implementation. LOL! So we started today. And I tried.

Note: All pictures can be clicked for a larger version.

So we set out this morning for the State Fair. I find this whole thing to be a waste of money. No. No. I admit that it’s definitely worth the price to see Jinx smile the majority of the day and genuinely find himself in the middle of what he wanted to do. We had a bumpy start, but once we got into the Fair—and with one minor issue aside—whatever else I may gripe about in the way of finances just does not compare to being able to do something like this for him. While I don’t have it right now, I certainly would have shelled out ten times that much to see him like he was today. Pictures won’t help to understand. One actually has to experience the joy he radiates. It’s amazing to be around him and to be able to provide him that venue to shine.

So we set out this morning driving over to the DART station. I’ve already mentioned the ride to downtown and it was just miserable. The “fun” that he should have been able to experience came later, but he’s not one to let one part of the day ruin the rest. We did have a bit of fun after one stop and several people got off so that we could see behind us as we went through a really long tunnel. We joked about how many trolls or goblins might be in there and how long it would be until we could get out. The kids in front of us giggled at us but one of the girls said something to her friend that looked like something about a father and kid and the other smiled so I can only assume they were laughing about us or how cute it was or something. I am just not embarrassed to have my kid in public or to play like a kid with him in public. We’re a team and quite good at working together. Even in fun.

So we got off the train and hit the bus. Finally! Some room to sit for a bit since it took quite a bit longer than I thought to ride over to the park. But I had made the decision to take a backpack with a few things in it for us: his GameBoy and DS and a book for me. Good thing too.

We made it to the park and entered, of course, at the entrance with all the games and rides. Ugh! That was a mess. That is the first thing he wanted to do. I refused and insisted that we work our way through the Fair and hit all this stuff on the way back since I was unsure about prices and tickets and all that and there might be things he’d rather do that wouldn’t be available later if we spent everything now. He agreed and we set out to the other side of the Fair.

Unfortunately, this whole outdoor thing isn’t really my forte in the first place. And, like any man, I’m horrible at reading maps. So we wandered around until we started seeing animals. Anyone who knows Jinx (or pays attention to anything I write about him) knows that he’s an animal lovin’ machine. He loves animals of all kinds.

Jinx and the Corvette

So, outside of the museums that we could have paid even more to hit today (and weren’t part of our “tour,” so to speak—and that’s another story for another time about the one reality moment of the day), the only real place for kids was the Barnyard and one or two other minor things. I’m serious when I say that the place is a huge advertisement and that’s about it. If you aren’t into car shows, then there really isn’t much out there for anyone except the gullible.

But the Barnyard was, alone, worth the price of admission. And the far majority of these pictures are from our journey around the place. To see him in his element was amazing. I think there were people that actually followed us around to see what he would do next or how some animal or another would interact with him. I have always believed him when he said he could talk to animals and they talk back. It might not be quite as literal as he likes to make it seem, but there is definitely a connection between him and these creatures.

Jinx Feeding Goat

With the exception of one picture, that is him hand-feeding or cup-feeding these animals even while others are using the little shovels (that you see him using once and it was so frustrating to him, he gave up on it). I think he was shocked at one point that they were doing it. He almost got the giraffe over to eat out of his hand, but this dude next to us kept trying to show off for some chick and her kids (We’d seen him do this to a couple of other people elsewhere too. Jackass!) and ended up chasing the giraffe away instead of it coming over to the crowd. At the end, the only animal he did feed with a shovel was the pig. After I explained to him about how they eat and could take off his hand in one bite, he opted for the shovel and learned first hand (no pun intended) how pigs can be dangerous no matter how much he might think they are cute. He barely got the shovel in the cage and the pig grabbed it to take the food. Jinx said later that he thought she was going to drag him into the cage by the shovel.

So here’s some pictures. A couple of pictures require stories, so they’ll be added below.

Jinx & Kangaroos	Jinx & Piglets
Jinx & Emu	Jinx Feeding Goats
Jinx Feeding Camel	Jinx Feeding Eland
Jinx Feeding Oryx

Jinx Feeding Baby Ostrich

Here we can see Jinx feeding a baby ostrich. He didn’t really do it “by hand” as much as it was more about just holding the cup of feed and the bird took it. He had spent a great deal of time trying to get the emu (see above) to feed from him but to no avail. The ostrich taking the food from him was cool. So he decided to take on the two big ostriches in the next cage. It was awesome. Both birds are eating from this one cup and I’m getting ready to take a picture of it. Now, notice that there are shovels there for a reason but he’s been ignoring them for some time.

Jinx and the Ostrich

As the picture went off, I got the image I got, but suddenly there was feed in the air, a lady next to me about in my arms, her husband / boyfriend / whatever nearly in my side pocket, and Jinx around my waist holding his hand. What you see in this picture, if you look closely enough, is the one ostrich about to bite him. The bird grabbed him, barely (didn’t break skin, didn’t even leave a mark at all except some dirty feed stain he washed off later), and it shocked him.

Jinx Feeding Chicks

There was one of the keepers that walked up to a cage where he was sitting feeding some baby chickens. She made the comment that while people had tried to feed them through the cage, usually there was already enough feed in the cage that they ignored the offers. But she had never seen anyone actually offer a single piece of corn through the grate and that many chickens gathered around trying to get it. That’s my boy!

Huh?

I don’t have any pictures of him at the attractions. I missed my opportunity with him and the sledgehammer thing where he won his sword. But we were standing at one game—one of those where others have to play also and there was no one else yet to play—and as I snapped the picture he started to ask me a question. He stopped, looked at me funny, and then asked is this stuff supposed to be fun? I couldn’t help but snicker. But from my end, paying the equivalent of $6 or $8 to squirt a thing for 30 seconds or less is just not my idea of fun. And apparently, he was feeling about the same way without the thought of the money.

Jinx and Sword

In the end, we went home. The bus ride back was just fine. We waited for the train, but not quite as long as I thought we would. Given our morning experience, we got on the train and it was near empty. We got to sit together and he took pictures all the way home. I might post some of them another time (this is long enough as is), but many are just weird things like signs and blurry trees from the train window. Oh, and toll booths on the way home in the car.

Jinx Train Ride

We both agree that it was an awesome day. We both agree that our feet hurt (and I do actually have a blister on one toe). We both agree that we will both sleep very, very well tonight. We both agree that we are exhausted. We both agree that we had a blast and that we will be doing something once a month like this; zoo, museum, aquarium, something that will be a day or half a day of fun—without quite the same extreme cost that today was.

Okay. I admit. I added that last part. He doesn’t quite understand the concept of costs. And I don’t expect him to right now. But I can afford a trip once a month for a while to keep him happy while we go through our Survival Training. It’s tough on him having to compete with my school work and I want to ensure that he not only knows how special he is but how much I appreciate his tolerance and patience while I try continue to better our lives and push for bigger and better things in the future.

We had a most excellent day and totally drama free!

Jinx