THERE YOU ARE, strolling alongside some sort of creek or pond or watery gurgly place, and then? You hear it, softly at first, and then the "ribbit" or the "croak" or the "cribbit," which is a special melding of the two, grows loader. And immediately you know that you're in the company of frogs, even if you can't see the adjacent amphibians, even if they're not so keen to reveal their spots. They're there, adding to the eco-awesomeness that is the woods, or a dell, or a river-close clutch of dampness (something a frog does dearly seem to love). But how do we honor these croaky, web-footed, far-jumping wonders, beyond leaving them be to croak away when we hear them in the forest? We can learn more about them, and teach our frog-loving youngsters about the world o' amphibians, too. There's a lively and whimsical way to do just that, at the Santa Barbara Zoo, and if you're thinking that this special weekend already happened for 2018, think again: It was postponed, due to weather, so there's still time to call upon the...
PRINCESS WEEKEND/SAVE THE FROGS... event, an annual to-do that sees kids arrive in all sorts of costumes, including outfits fit for a princess, a prince, an astronaut, a knight, and so forth. The weekend is very much about paying homage to "... the world's many and varied frogs and amphibians," in addition to the costume-cool good times. There shall be learning and frogly crafts and frogly games and "special animal appearances," too. Admission to the zoo is your admission to the frog and dress-up fun. The hours? Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15, the rescheduled dates. So jump like a toad for the zoo which wants to shine a light, though not literally, of course, on our croaking good friends, the amphibians of Planet Earth.
