I'll apologize ahead of time for what you will read next

I debated whether or not to write this next entry... it's funny and humiliating in that kind of way in that you will want to cover your mouth, gasp, and giggle a little.

Last Wednesday Gabe, Sam, and I went to the zoo with Blake and Marin (little Quentin came along too).  The weather was perfect so we couldn't resist spending the day outdoors.

While sitting down having lunch there was this nice man, an employee of the zoo, cleaning up the picnic area. The boys were playing with him and he was teasing them back. Marin and I chatted and ate our lunch not really noticing what the boys were doing. UNTIL I heard Gabe yelling, "MR. BROWNIE!!!  COME AND GET ME MR. BROWNIE!!"  My ears perked up when I heard that because it sounded awful strange. "Gabe come here... why are you calling him Mr. Brownie?"  Gabe's reply, "Because he has brown skin."

"No no no.  We don't call people by the color of their skin. Do we call Daddy Mr. Whitey?"

Gabe - "No."

Me - "Please don't call him that anymore."

Gabe continues to YELL "MR BROWNIE!"  The only way I could get him to stop was to yell back, "STOP GABE!!"

I was mortified to say the least. Yes, the man was brown as Gabe observed, but it is not like Gabe hasn't seen someone with brown skin before.

Then, to top that off about 3 minutes later Gabe says, "Mom I just saw a ninja!!"  Very loudly of course. He was referring to the woman wearing a burqa. It was a good day for explaining ethnic differences.

Aye, aye, aye. I don't think there is much more I can say about that!