It’s December and it’s my kid’s birthday again. This year, we decided to have a “party” for her at the zoo. We invited family and started looking on the zoo’s website for ways to make it special. A lot of the behind-the-scenes activities aren’t available in the winter and when I checked the age limits for the ones that were available, none were approved for kids under 5. But, the zoo does offer a birthday party package- admission to the zoo and a pizza party! And outside food is not allowed! Wow! That doesn’t sound like fun at all for kids who can’t eat pizza.
So, we skipped that experience. But it didn’t change the
fact that we would probably need to eat lunch before driving the 1.5 hours home.
I couldn’t find any allergen information online, but just looking through the menus
didn’t inspire a lot of confidence- cheese was on every sandwich (except for
the kids menu PB&J 😒), there was no information in what oil they used for
frying things, and I just have to assume that garlic or eggs were in all the sauces. Nothing seemed like a safe choice. Come on Zoo! Lots of people have food allergies now, why don't you have any information online in this day and age!
While the zoo doesn’t allow outside food, they do have a section
of picnic tables in the parking lot. It’s our kid’s birthday, so if there’s
ever a time to force everybody to partake of her restricted diet,
it’s this special day. We settled on a bagel spread with vegan cream cheese.
Make your own safe bagel sandwich. We brought some Spudsy puffs for the side. And don’t
forget her requested cupcake- chocolate with yellow icing and rainbow sprinkles. All peanut, milk, egg, and garlic free. All toddler approved. All easy to bring for a cold, December picnic. That beats a discriminatory pizza party, right?
Happy 3rd birthday, baby girl! May you soon grow out of a food allergy or two (maybe 3!) (okay if we're making wishes, let's grow out of all 4).
Hoping and wishing and praying for all 4!!
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