Wayne's World

What a beautiful day it was to visit the Phoenix Zoo. My sister invited us, last minute, and I just ran with it and decided that the kids would love to spend a Sunday there.

Funny how things just turn out perfectly. As we were making our way, slowly, through the first two exhibits, we came upon a sweet little man in a wheelchair. He was the expert on the where, who and what, of the zoo. I don't even know how the conversation started, but he directed us to the lion's den and from that point on, "Wayne," become our own personal tour guide of the entire zoo. Wayne spends a minimum of three days a week at the zoo and knows all the employees by name. Wayne is a 21 year veteran of the Navy and is in a wheelchair. Wayne was a complete doll to all of us. Our kids rode on the wheelchair when they got tired and Wayne told us stories of his granddaughter. I think Wayne enjoyed our company just as much as we enjoyed his. Wayne spent 4 1/2 hours of his time with us and smiled the entire time. He knew what animals had passed away and what animals were just recovering from being sick. He had our kids learning about everything. By the end of the afternoon, all of our kids hugged Wayne goodbye and thanked him for being so generous with his time and knowledge. (Now, don't think for a second that the cop in me didn't go through the whole... scan the man, think, think, think..... try not to go down the road of, "why is this older man talking to my kids?"... because, without a doubt, I did... and even Tommy questioned it, but in the end, Wayne was just a nice man wanting some company!)

We had a great day chasing all the little ones around the zoo and eating munchies we normally would not eat! Here's to our new friend and all the animals we got to see and touch today!!

Thank you Auntie Kelly for the invite!!!



Just for Trish... This was the best picture I have of Wayne. Hopefully my nieces took some photos so I can get a better one!!