Nothing says “Happy 39th Birthday” quite like a trip to a tropical-jungle-themed restaurant in a shopping mall.

But, hey, when it comes to birthdays during this phase of parenthood, the kids are in charge … as evidenced by my 39th-birthday celebration earlier this year.

So, Zan—who, in previous years, has always planned stay-at-home birthday celebrations for Mommy (like this one)—decided we should take Mommy to the Rainforest Cafe.

A few years ago, when Zan was about three, we were at the mall for something, and he kept asking me to carry him down to where the Rainforest Cafe was so that he could see the feaux animals … and every time I did so, he would tense up in fear and clutch himself against me and insist that we retreat, posthaste.

We never even made it past the entrance back then, as doing so would have required walking directly next to that feller shown above, who every couple of minutes starts opening and closing his jaws and moves a few inches closer to the rock wall behind which he sits and makes a lot of noise and generally causes quite a stir.

A number of weeks ago, the kids were at the mall with Mommy, and decided to brave the cafe (yes, Jayna is generally more daring at her age than was her brother … but I’m guessing that being a first child versus having a big brother to model after makes a pretty big difference in such matters). Since returning home from that dining experience, Zan has frequently mentioned that the alligator’s name is Nile, and that he, Zan, is no longer afraid of him.

Of course, when you look at the picture above—which I took while crouched down to about the height of, say, a 3-year-old?—it’s kinda easy to understand why Zan didn’t want to be anywhere near that ugly sonovabitch back in the day.

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