20sb Blog Swap, featuring Kayla!

My fabulous cohorts at 20sb arranged for a summer-vacation-themed blog swap. Interested in 20sb for future blog swaps? Follow the blog here!

Hi Readers of BelleRenee! Let me introduce myself: I’m Kayla from PolkaDotPug. I’m so excited to share with you about a childhood summer vacation. I’m not saying that this was one of my most “exciting” trips I’ve ever taken on vacation, but it definitely is one of the funniest. Let’s reminisce!

Let’s set the stage: It was the summer of 1995. I was 4 years old, and it was the last summer before I would start out in the big world people referred to me as “school”. I was always up for learning things from music and singing to how to duck tape my brothers to their beds in fewer than three minutes WHILE they were sleeping. Yeah, I was THAT kid. I also had the word GULLIBLE tattooed to my forehead. Too young? Well, there’s a reason behind every cliché phrase.

Our trip for the summer was to Jacksonville, Florida and my highlight for this trip was the zoo. I loved animals, and even more than animals, this girl loved the color pink. What do you get when you combine animals + pink? You get flamingoes. Wonderful and elegant birds that can balance on one leg most days, but that is not the name I referred to them as a child.

The entire family woke up early that sunny, summer day and had gotten through the crowded entrance. As all family excursions go, the phrase “Do you have to go to the restroom?” “I don’t know where the other ones are in this place, you better go now.” Well with that, we all took our turns, and for about five minutes I was left with all of the men in my family who decided they wanted to get back at me for the pranks I pulled on them.

So by now, your mind is wondering, correct? I’ve put out the words “gullible” “flamingoes” and “revenge”. Just wait, the story gets even better. Here we are, standing in the rotunda of the zoo, right in front of the flamingo exhibit. The birds are pink and you have an obsessed four year old. “Oooh! Dad look at the birds! They are my favorite color!” “Bubba, LOOK!” After the exciting remarks, I asked the inevitable question: “Hey, what are those birds called?”

I don’t know HOW they came up with it, or WHY, but they all decided to tell me that those pretty birds were called “pink chickens”. Seems legit for a four year old, wouldn’t you think? I believed them right on the bat and even when my mom came back and was the kind one to tell me the correct name of the “pink chickens” … I believed my brothers and Dad. I didn’t realize they had played me until I reached the FIRST GRADE and had an fifteen minute argument with my teacher. They were on my “list” for a while after that.

To remind me of the incident, every birthday/graduation/event that happens to include gifts, I end up getting something with those “pink chickens” on it.  Oy, what a vacation I will never forget.