We did perhaps the most Australian thing we could have done today (other than get killed by a snake, spider, or riptide) and visited Steve Irwin’s zoo. From the exit of the highway it becomes a shrine to him, first you drive 12km along Steve Irwin Drive, and then you are greeted with this sign. Krikey.

Throughout the zoo he or another Irwin is on every sign and every bench. Even the informational signs have things like comparing the size of the animal to Steve.

Everything was very well run and we had a great morning walking around looking at the animals. The craziest animal encounter we had was this Cassowary that looked me in the eye and then unloaded the biggest dump you can imagine. It sounded like that scene in Dumb & Dumber when Harry gets dosed with a laxative. And this was what came out. Once again, krikey.

Nick described it as looking like Thai yellow curry, which ruined that previously enjoyable dish for me forever.

Anyway, subject change… A few days ago Millie saw another kid with a ring pop and asked for one. We told her she can switch out Ice Cream Friday for a ring pop and she’s been hyper fixated ever since. She woke up asking for a ring pop. I warned her that it was unlikely that they’ll sell them at the zoo but that we’d try to find one after we left. But magically in the middle of the zoo was a large candy store, and in that candy store were ring pops. She jumped up and down with excitement.

It was very hot and humid today, but in the middle of the zoo was a splash pad. We took a midday break and splashed around.

As we were in the changing room stall putting on Millie’s swimsuit, she loudly asked “Mom I am curious about two words. What is a ‘victim’?” She paused for a beat and then asked “And what is ‘murder’?” I can only imagine what the people in the others stalls thought.

At 1pm we made our way to the “crocoseum” where there is a demonstration with the large saltwater crocs. To our surprise, Robert Irwin (Steve’s son and Dancing With the Stars champion) came out to do the show. He explained their behaviors and fed them. It was thrilling and very entertaining. I’m not sure what week of my menstrual cycle this represents but I literally cried imagining how proud his dad would be of him.

After this we walked a lot and saw all of the animals. Very sleepy wombats, even sleepier koalas, kangaroos, dingos, rhinos, giraffes, cheetahs, the world’s most venomous snakes, etc.

We saw these two girls at the zebra section and had a good giggle. Millie did not understand why we were laughing.

I always have mixed feelings about visiting zoos. I see their importance for education and conservation, but then I always just feel bad for the animals. At this one, they all seemed to have plenty of room to roam and I didn’t have my usual sad feelings.

We were very wiped by the heat by the end of it. We once again decided to have a grilled dinner at home and we stopped by the grocery store to pick up ingredients. My method is to choose the protein first and work backwards from there. We decided on some fennel pork sausage, and then I got potatoes and sauerkraut. We ate it all with the leftover broccoli from last night. Delicious.

Millie started a new book. Her character Peaches is out and she has a new one named Lena. She took a very bubbly bath and got to bed early. Hopefully after tomorrow we will be in a place with real blackout curtains so we can sleep past 6:30.