Okay, first things first. Mor Mor, skip this post. You'll faint seeing some of these pictures. {And folks, I'm not kidding. She will.}
I do not like green snakes and jam. I do not like them, hater of snakes I am.
Hello 60 pound female boa constrictor. I was fine until it started SLITHERING.
HOWEVER, I DID IT.
I'm a brave forty-year-old lady I am. 
We found our way to the Reptile Fest and I'm going to just tell a little secret. It really wasn't that bad. I mean, I'm not signing up to OWN a snake ... but I held several as you'll see by the pictorial evidence.
So I'll let the pictures do the talkin'.
This doesn't seem safe...
But we really were right in the pen WITH the alligator. The American Alligator to be exact. Jackson stepped on his tail as we crawled in behind. THAT freaked me out because Miss Gator twitched a bit and Maddie was already nestled in by her head. Oh MERCY.
And I'm thinking this next situation doesn't seem right. This is immediately after the guy dipped his hand down into the pond to grab little gator and the thing turned sharply and almost bit him. I'm NOT exaggerating. I screamed and lots of people jumped (maybe more due to my screaming than the actual fright of the gator's snap) and yet I still let my children do this? What is WRONG with me? Oh ya, I forgot. I'm in the running for coolest mom of the year and this might just have clinched it!
Okay, Mr. Boa was going a little crazy at this point {below} and the handler guy totally walked away and just let Jackson have the snake all over him. I finally had to say, "Psst., Mister, would you mind, um, getting this large reptile OFF my son before he squeezes him to death."
And this next one .... Ummm, did you NOTICE that you have a snake wrapped around your arm Mr. Social Boy while you're telling the snake owner how old you are?
I LOVE this next picture of Jackson. It's like Jackson has wrangled the snake to the ground and is proudly displaying his catch, completely oblivious to the large man who is actually holding Croc.
I think the snake was tickling Jackson on this next one. That's how I felt the entire 3 hours we were there. Yes, I said 3 hours. And yes, another notch on the coolest mom of the year belt. I swear, I'm gonna win. I'm IN-IT-TO-WIN-IT....
Seriously, if I wouldn't have potentially crushed the tortoise I so would have sat on him. I mean, how cool is this place. The kids got to SIT on a tortoise.
And Maddie, sweet Maddie, was just FAR too comfortable at this place. The owners kept letting her hold their critters, for however long, because she was so natural at it. {This comes directly from her father's genes.} She just LOVED this experience at the Reptile Fest ...
These little guys were cute. Sort of reminded me of the chee-chucks {no idea how to spell that word} in Irian that were everywhere. Everywhere.
This next thing could have killed her. And yet she just wore it like a beautiful scarf. The latest style of the decade.
This next one made me scream. And that made Little Miss Muffet laugh at me.
And this next one just COMPLETELY creeps me out. Like, you could NOT have paid me to let this snake do this to me.
And so, for 3 solid hours I chased Maddie through the huge gymnasium, running from snake to snake, croc to croc, asking her to slow down so she didn't STARTLE the varmints and cause them to strike, maim and potentially kill.
And when we eventually left and landed at the Chicago Botanic Gardens I believe my blood pressure finally found its way back to level normal.
