We celebrated Troy’s fifth birthday today with an animal party. My wife and mother decorated the upstairs with trees made out of crushed brown paper, crepe paper leaves, and string vines. They put up a giant wall-sized mural of the jungle, inflated animal dolls, and blew up balloons in the shape of animals or with animal markings.
We invited Troy’s entire class and a few of the friends that had gotten split into another class. We brought in a company with rescued animals to come and teach the kids while allowing the kids to touch and interact with the animals at the same time. We had a lemur, a spider monkey, a two-toed sloth, a tamandua (anteater), a baby Morelet’s crocodile, a pink-toed tarantula, a scorpion, a chameleon, a red iguana, and a dwarf hairy screaming armadillo.
The scorpion was pretty cool. The lady gave Troy a black light and told him to shine it at the scorpion, and it lit up fluorescent blue. It was pretty bright, which none of us were expecting. The chameleon (Carmen…a nod to the song Karma Chameleon by The Culture Club) didn’t change colors, but she did climb up my wife’s arm and get tangled in her hair. Did you know that it takes a chameleon about five minutes to change their color, and they can only change to cool shades like blue, green, and purple? Also, they are greatly attracted to moisture, shooting their tongue out to lick wet things. Apparently, they’ve had the chameleon lick someone’s eye before.
My wife really liked the spider monkey, who was just a baby. He was so timid that he was clinging tightly to the trainer. He would only release one arm to reach out and snatch the proffered treats from the kids hands. But the little monkey saw something kind and comforting in my wife, and at some point he reached out to her. She opened her arms, and he climbed right in, giving her a big hug. He reminded me of Troy doing the same thing when he was just a baby. She was so soft and warm that the trainer had a hard time prying the little monkey away from her.
I really liked the crocodile, who was named Rufio after one of the Lost Boys in Peter Pan. I thought the allusion to the crocodile in that book was a nice touch. The sloth was pretty funny. She was latched onto a pillow in the shape of Hedwig from Harry Potter. Did you know that sloths spend the majority of their lives upside down, and that if you tip them over they get the same sensation we get from standing on our heads?
The dwarf hairy screaming armadillo (Tumbleweed) didn’t actually scream, much to my disappointment. Although the guy said the scream isn’t very loud, so I guess she could have been screaming, and I just couldn’t hear it over the kids. The Tamandua didn’t stick his tongue out and lick anyone either, even though Troy was really hoping he would. Did you know that many cosmetic companies use insect pheromones in their hand creams and lotions, which is supposed to attract males? Due to this fact, the tamandua is generally attracted to the women in the room, preferring to sniff them over the men. This particular one was getting a little too fresh with my wife, so I had to intervene and mark my territory. I don’t think my wife appreciated me peeing on her pant leg.
But the biggest hit had to be the tarantula. People were strangely scared and intrigued by it at the same time. The trainer tried to get Troy to hold it, but he adamantly refused, hiding behind me and saying he was scared. I tried to coax him to do it, telling him that he’d never get another opportunity like this in his lifetime, but he still refused. Finally, the trainer asked Troy if he’d do it if I’d do it, and I shot the trainer a dirty look. I told him, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Why are you dragging me into this?! What did I do to you?! I have no issues pushing my son into something, but I draw the line when I have to do it myself! If he doesn’t want to hold the tarantula, then he doesn’t have to!” No, seriously, without even thinking, I reached my hand out and accepted the tiny spider. She just sat there in my hand until Troy bravely came around me and tried to pet the spider on the backside. Then, she took off running up my arm. It felt like a bunch of tiny feet pattering along my skin. But that still wasn’t enough to convince Troy to hold the spider. My wife let the tarantula crawl up her arm, but still no. And then, my mom sucked it up and let it sit on her hand. That was finally the tipping point. If Gammy could do it, then Troy could do it. He reluctantly agreed, and he held the tarantula on his tiny hand. I was so proud of him for being so brave, and his bravery spread through the other terrified kids. Soon, everyone wanted to hold the tarantula…even the adults.
The only downside was trying to corral a group of five-year olds and get them to sit still. The kids were really excited at first, but the presentation of animals was long, and it started to get more chaotic in between each animal. The kids were really hungry and had too much idle energy. They started running around and play fighting. They were playing with the balloons and screaming. They just couldn’t sit still. In hindsight, we probably should have let them run around and had them eat first, so they’d be a little more subdued for the animals. But we got through it. Honestly, I think what took so long was that the adults spent so much time interacting with the animals. The kids probably would have only spent a couple of minutes with each one.
We finally got to eat, which was an assortment of pizza, hot dogs, veggie burgers, and hamburgers. Or as my wife put it, something for everyone. We also had a chocolate fountain, which was a big hit with the kids who enjoyed dipping marshmallows, pretzels, and chips into the flowing chocolate. And we ended with Troy’s cake, a two tiered cake of cookies and cream and blueberry/lemon, decorated with safari animals and leaves that we had ordered from The London Baker in Lewisville.
The party was a hit, thanks mostly to my wife and mother. Every year, I wonder how we’ll outdo the year before. It’s not easy to keep coming up with unique ideas. And this year is going to be hard to beat.
