Brave Viv

Today was the dreaded dentist day. We had been warned that Viv was likely to vomit all over herself, and we both took the day off to be there. Holy cow, was she brave! They filed a little, barely-noticeable gap b/w her teeth, and then they decided they needed to do a tiny filling anyway. They did all of this with not even so much as a topical numbing agent, and Vivi didn't flinch at all. We brought the dentist, a penguin lover, a stuffed penguin that my mom happened to have, and she propped it up where it could "see" and be seen. Viv had her (Gus's?) stuffed bumble bee, Bumblito, with her, so the dentist named the penguin Penguino. Vivi got a sugar-free fruit mint, three princess stickers, a tattoo, and TONS of praise from the dentist and her assistant for being brave, smart, and cute! It was all a far cry from the scenario I had envisioned, trust me. This first picture shows her teeth as they were before we walked in to the dentist's office. The remaining pictures are of her reward - a trip to the Global Wildlife Refuge in Folsom, LA.


No, not hiding her teeth on purpose.





On the wagon.


Family bucket o' deer chow.




Baby rheas.


Fallow deer.


Black buck antelope.




Cape Elands - evidently notorious thieves of feed cups, but we managed to keep ours.




Aladdin, the Bactrian camel with the saggy hump. They explained that it is a genetic condition that the camel inherited from his father and grandfather.






Here's a view with the tractor and the wagons it tows - there were wagons four total on our trip.



The giraffe was cool to feed - it didn't take food from many people, and the zebras can't be fed directly because they are "affectionate biters." Note how close the affectionate biter got to my food when it put its muzzle in the wagon to steal some spilled chow. The spotted faced animal is a llama, and then the giant looking deer are really elk. The elk were the coolest to feed. They were hungry and gentle enough to feed directly from your hand.

















And, as if I hadn't already bragged about Viv enough in this post, there's more to add. Viv had this whole adventurous day - the dentist in Metairie, a trip to the Wendy's in Madisonville, the drive to Folsom, the 1 1/2 hour wagon ride, and the entire ride back to Arabi - without having a single accident. I couldn't believe it!