"Cock-A-La-Doo"!

This is a phrase we heard shouted with exorbitant amounts of enthusiasm and glee from Nicky throughout our stay in Key West. You see, there are an abundance of "gypsy chickens" in the city, and apparently our son is quite the fan of the critters! (Much to his daddy's chagrin, I might add - Kris is not really one to get excited over birds of any kind.) Our first rooster sighting came about shortly after arriving in town. We had driven from Miami, with our sleeping 3 year old who is not the most joyous upon waking from naps, and needed to stop at the local grocery store. After declaring this to Nicky, he informed us he would "stay in car", which would be great if it were possible! Imagine - a trip to the grocery store sans "inquisition" and with no distractions - complete bliss! But, alas, we would probably have been arrested if we had left him behind, and that would've made for a completely different trip! Back to the story - as I was trying to coax Nicky out of the car (without bribing him with various purchasable items), I looked over and noticed a rooster tearing through the parking lot. After excitedly announcing this, Nicky jumped out of the car to try to spot the little guy for himself, saying "cock-a-la-doo daddy! cock-a-la-doo!" As with "quack quacks" (ducks), saying what the animal says is much more fun than calling the animal by its name!

Anywho - the Key West Chickens are quite controversial, in that some town's folk love 'em, and some hate 'em. I can kinda see the "hate 'em" point. We were on vacation, and yes, we still arose a bit early, as we had to make the most of our time in the city; however, 5am-6am is not really what we had in mind! Those little buggers would crow their hearts out for us every morning, and well, at any time of day really, but the morning announcement was really not necessary! Regardless, Nicky quite enjoyed seeing these indigenous creatures and shouted "cock-a-la-doo" with joy each and every time!