Blue furry creatures and alligators

Mission accomplished! Having their photo taken with Grover.

We had to go to the zoo last weekend; there was no way around it. Grover was going to be there.

I'm not sure when my daughter's obsession with Grover began. I used to read her "The Monster at the End of This Book," and we watched inordinate hours of Sesame Street while I was waiting for her sister to be born. (It helped that I was the size of a beached whale, had sciatica and could do little else.)

But something about this affable blue creature just captured her imagination, and he was her favorite character on the Sesame block. When he was shunted aside for the obnoxious, screechy Elmo, my kid was bitter, even though her Sesame Street watching days were long past.

And then Elmo got his own feature, "Elmo's World." That really stung. One hardly saw Grover on the street anymore. It was hard to find blue furry monster merchandise that wasn't Cookie Monster.

My future son-in-law risked an international incident getting a SuperGrover stuffed doll out of a claw machine in a weird hamburger joint/bowling alley/arcade near Shannon, when we went to Ireland.

Charlotte holding hands with the SuperGrover
thief, AKA Daddy, and my daughter, Megan.

After feeding about 20 Euros in the machine and various close-calls, he gave up in disgust and stuck his arm up inside of the chute and grabbed the superhero. I didn't actually see this go down, but the owner was very suspicious, and the next thing I know, the kids are at my elbow hissing, "Let's go! Right now!" The proprietor followed us into the parking lot, doubtless to be sure we didn't steal anything else.

You can say what you want about the morality of this, but the guy got paid almost $50 for an 8-inch plush doll that probably cost a quarter, and we got a great travel story. I feel no remorse. And I believe that act of chivalry cemented the kids' relationship. "Faint heart never won fair maid," and all that crap.

Hey, you're not a cookie!

So when the Los Angeles Zoo announced that Grover and Cookie Monster would be there to promote the "Sesame Street Live" show coming to the Nokia Theater, where we were going on be on Mother's Day was never in doubt.

I didn't wait in the big long line, but did show up in time to see Megan and Charlotte get a big furry hug. My husband was doing his impression of Grover spoofing the Old Spice man, which you can see here. 

Megan was annoyed at the people in line who obviously didn't read the advertisement and thought Elmo was going to be there. "Elmo's coming, right?" they would ask, and my kid would snap, "No! Grover and Cookie Monster!"

That must have disappointed the scads of people wearing Elmo's simpering orange mug on their T-shirts.

The ambience at Reggie's Bistro belies its great food.

I knew we were going to be eating at the zoo, and had resigned myself to cardboard hamburgers. But during the last remodel, the LA Zoo put in Reggie's Bistro, right across the path from the infamous Reggie the Alligator's pen.

The food is pricy, but amazing. Everyone else had hamburgers, which looked great, and I had a grilled chicken sandwich with teriyaki sauce and a thick slice of pineapple on a high-quality bun, served with sweet potato fries,  and washed down with beer on tap. It was Amstel Light, but still....

Charlotte got apple juice in a plastic bottle shaped like a green alligator, called Reggie Juice. She held the bottle up, inclined the head, and said "Alligators say 'rawr.'" 

The giraffes enchanted onlookers.

The zoo is definitely cashing in on the public's fascination with Reggie, who was found swimming in Lake Machado in Harbor City. It took about a year and half to get him captured. Now there is a book about him, a website, and the zoo gift shop overflows with alligator merchandise.

The new elephant enclosure is wonderful. I can't show you a photo because they were moving too fast for me, but the changes at the zoo are considerable. We spent a long time watching the giraffes.

By the end of the day, Charlotte wasn't the only cranky one. My knee was killing me, and I would have given my MG for a ride to the car, Luckily, there wasn't anyone to take me up on that offer. 

Watching my kids chase after Charlotte while I rested my knee on a bench made me ever more impressed with those grandparents who must raise their grandkids. I don't think I would want to do that full-time. 

Getting a lift from Pop Pop. And this is why mommy's camera lens is always dirty.