Who ordered the heat on Labor Day?

If you know us at all then you've probably noticed that we didn't visit the zoo as often this summer as in previous years.   Instead, the majority of our summer weekends and other free days were taken up with house  and garden care, both old and new, and we just didn't get out to visit our animals as often as we would have liked.  We are trying to make up for it now, though, and on Labor Day we took Gram and Grandpa to visit our favorite animals–the  ones at the Detroit Zoo.  I'd like to say that by waiting until later in the season we were able to enjoy cooler weather and more active animals, but alas, Labor Day this year ranked right up there with some of the hotest summer weather we had experienced, and we found ourselves seeking escape from the ninety degree heat in the air conditioned polar waters tunnel.  All the same, we had a really good time; the tiger was up and about, the snow  monkeys were surprisingly active, the seals were a big hit while we took our short polar air break, and even the aardvark put on a good show.   Ever the opportunist, Calvin took advantage of having so many doting wagon pullers by stretching out, leaning back, and enjoying the sights at his leisure from behind his cool dude shades.  Oh if only they offered that service for all visitors.  For more pictures, visit the September 2008 album.

Five years of fun redux

Five is the magic number this year.  Not only did we celebrate our fifth year of marriage this past weekend, last night we celebrated five years of Detroit Zoo membership with Member Night at the Zoo.   The zoo's way of saying thanks to their regular supporters, member night is exactly what it sounds like - an evening during which the zoo is open after hours to members only.  There's a little more to the story, too, and that includes free rides on the zoo train, special keeper talks, music, puppet shows (puppet shows at the zoo? We'd rather watch the real animals thanks), and special animal enrichment times.  Since it can also mean crowds at the popular spots (we  vividly remember waiting well over 30 minutes to take the train back to the front of the zoo at the end of the night several years ago), we tend to do things our own way to avoid the throngs.  This year we boarded the train as soon as we got into the park, waiting only about 15 minutes for our ride to the back (Calvin's first ride on the zoo train, nonetheless!) where, instead of rushing to the first enrichment exhibit with everyone else, we kicked back with a fresh homemade summer salad and enjoyed a leisurely dinner with the  zebras and the peafowl.  We missed the puppet show, the warthog feeding, and the wolverine keeper talk, but with all the people crowding those specific areas, we felt like we had all the room in the world to enjoy the aardvark (who was fast asleep not three feet from us, just over the railing), the kangaroos (who graced us with a hop by on the path), and the hippo (who actually got out of the water and wandered around for Calvin to enjoy).  Evening is a great time to view the animals and avoid the oppressive heat of summer.  Member night alone feels like reason enough to keep our membership in good standing.  We love our zoo.

More pictures.  Here.

Second time's a charm

No, you're not seeing things, we really did go to another zoo Halloween party this afternoon.  We couldn't resist.  It's not like we've had a pint sized candy excuse before.  Besides, we spent all that money on his costume (resale's a miracle, but shhhh!  Don't tell!) and have to get as many uses out of it as possible, so today we made the trek to our second favorite zoo down in Toledo to enjoy their Little Boo at the Zoo party.  Sure it was cold and windy, and sure most of the animals were somewhere off exhibit, but the trip had it's merits:  we got a great look at the baby polar bear twins and one of the baby cheetahs, Calvin got a chance to "ride" one of the metal turtle sculptures that are usually too hot to touch, and we came home with four pieces of candy - 2 pieces for each of us, since Calvin is too young, of course.   The only down side to the day was our visit to Africa where Calvin was devastated to learn that the giraffes at this particular zoo are not feed-able or touchable the way that they are at both Binder Park and now Detroit, as well.  Instead of his customary "giraffe" smile, we were treated to a heart meltingly cute "giraffe" pout. 

Pictures.  In the Oct 20-26 album. 

The key to a healthy Halloween

Halloween is not an innate holiday.  Who would have guessed?  In fact, the way that Calvin took immediately to the decorations this year we thought it might be.  It was late in September that the first elaborate trimmings of the upcoming holiday began to appear and Calvin recognized them right away, lurching forward in his stroller, squealing, and pointing.   In fact, our daily excursions have become less about exercise and more about hunting for pumpkins and other yard enhancements.  But trick-or-treating is most certainly not part of his inherent understanding of this October celebration.  Tonight we indulged our own desire to embrace the festivities of the season by attending the annual Zoo Boo at the Detroit Zoo.  Calvin thought wearing a costume was funny, he thought his parents wearing costumes was an all out riot, he loved the pumpkins artistically arranged in zoo-like scenes, and he loved the animals we got to glimpse, but he had no conceptual grasp for the actual treat collecting part of the evening.  At the first station he was openly concerned that some strange woman dressed in a pumpkin costume (not unlike his own, mind you) was putting something (pretzels) in his bag.  At the second station he took said pretzels out of his bag and tried desperately to give them to the bumblebee who was trying, without luck, to bestow upon him the gift of Skittles.  It was a very fun evening for all of us, and even turned out to be a healthy one.  Thanks to Calvin's diligence we came home with less than a solid handful of candy. 

A profusion of pictures, as always, in the Oct 20-26 album. 

Giraffe laughing kid...

It was a beautiful day today, and since Moose is feeling much better (really he didn't miss a beat) you know where we were... the zoo.  In fact, we decided it was time that we made the drive to Battle Creek for our first visit this year to Binder Park Zoo and its friendly giraffes.  We can't lie - we weren't nearly as excited about seeing the friendly giraffes as we were about seeing Calvin seeing the friendly giraffes.  Unfortunately the day didn't go as smoothly as planned (do they ever???) but after getting a late start and spending 20 minutes in construction traffic we had previously been unaware of, we were pleased to find the zoo busy but not packed, and the weather warm but not stiffling.  As per our usual routine we headed straight for the tram to Africa.  The trip to Africa made Calvin a little nervous (not upset, just a little uneasy), but the visit with the giraffes was a big hit: he thought they were hilarious.  He was a little unsure of feeding them, those are big tongues, after all, but he was a good sport about it just the same.  And he had a lot more fun on the tram ride back.  Back in the American half of the zoo he got the chance to spend even more time with funny animals in the petting part of the zoo, his favorites being the pigs, the goats coming in a close second.  He also enjoyed petting a Ball Python before he got back to the car and headed home to grill dinner and enjoy watermelon on the front porch.

You can, of course, find a plethora of pictures from today in our June 30 - July 6 photo album. 

And a quick environmental plug  we feel we have to mention - we were pleasantly surprised this evening to see that Kroger is now selling reusable shopping bags.  We bought 4 and will buy more if we have to, but it looks like we'll have to find a new (and more environmentally friendly) way to clean up after the dogs.  The bags are great and we hope you'll check them out, too.