Holiday Weekend

Everyone needs holiday weekends in their lives in order to bring some spice to the monotony of everyday schedules.  Of course, when you're a baby there is nothing monotonous about your every day - sure the naps are a regularly attended event, but there is so much to discover in the world that all other moments are already peppered with variety and change.  So even though Friday might have been a day of new discovery for Calvin, who found out that day how much fun it is to kick a ball around the house (do we have a soccer player?), Jon was more than happy to arrive home with the news that he'd been given Monday off - what a special treat!  And what did we plan?  Spring cleaning.  But the weather threw a wrench in our plans (the weather is another thing that knows nothing of monotony, especially in Michigan), so we spring cleaned all day Saturday while it rained and went about our usual church and music lesson schedule on Sunday, and moved our planned trip to the Detroit Zoo with Jon's parents and sister to Monday instead.  What a great choice!  Rain is perfect for spring cleaning, but not so perfect for the zoo, and vice versa with the sun that showered us with brilliantly warm rays come Memorial day.  Of course, between the good weather and the national holiday, the zoo was packed, but another bonus point for the Detroit Zoo over both Toledo and Binder is the amount of space - wide walkways and a plethora of exhibits really know how to spread out a crowd and the six of us had a great time, complete with a picnic lunch.  Calvin loved talking to, and showing off for, his aunt and grandparents.  And to our delight his interest in the animals grows with every zoo trip we take (which means that at this rate by the end of the summer he'll be trying to climb into their enclosures).  It was a great zoo trip, and we finished of our Memorial Day with a traditional summer meal - grilled hamburgers (Calvin had his mini-burger without a bun) corn on the cob, and watermelon (which Calvin LOVED), followed by a little swimming and a lot of bubbles.  Boy is it hard to return to the monotony of Tuesday.

Back to the zoo!

It was 75 degrees and sunny today, and all who know us also know what that means - it was a zoo day!  The first of the year, actually, and the difference between this trip and our last is that we spent much less time watching the animals and much more time watching Calvin watch the animals, or not watch the animals as it may be.  He did seem to be interested in some of the creatures, especially the larger or faster moving ones.  He watched the rhino boys closely, even performing his "so big" for the, although their lack of interest was disappointing to him.  The zebras also caught his eye, as did the prairie dogs.  Other than that, he was mostly interested in watching the other baby who was with us (we went with college friends of ours, John and Ashley, and their 15 month old son, Noah), and in the inanimate wonders of the zoo, like the ropes in the walkabout and the watery walls of the polar bear tunnel.  He was interested in getting out of the stroller and walking a lot, and wanted to touch and poke at everything nearby.  As for us, we were fascinated by how very much like a little boy he is beginning to look.  Where did our baby go?

The zoo at home

Today marked Calvin's second trip to the Detroit Zoo (yes, we know we've been slacking, but we plan to increase that number in the near future).  The second trip turned out to be very different from the first.  Being a little older now he is able to see better and is more interested in his surroundings, not to mention that with his good neck control he is now able to face forward in his carrier and actually see the animals (if he tries).  The other thing that was different about today's trip was taking a friend to the zoo.  Or it may have been the other way around, since he was invited by his friend Liesl, on the condition that he bring Cortney along to play with her mother Becky.  So this may have been a play date, but most likely it was Cortney and Becky's.  Unfortunately the zoo was not as striking as it can sometimes be:  the tigers were sleeping, the baby prairie dogs were not out, and neither were the wolverine kits, and the kangaroos were merely lounging.  On the other hand there were still plenty of animals to enjoy:  Talini, the year old polar bear, was swimming,  there was a second baby kangaroo on the way, and the peafowl attempted to eat our lunches.  What is really funny about today, however, is Calvin's apparent lack of interest in real giraffes by comparison to his absolute enthrallment with the Playskool Peek N Pop Giraffes at home.   All we can say is, at least he's showing interest in something.

Now only six minutes to Africa

Last summer we surprised the world with our story of the seven minute tram to Africa that leaves from a station in Binder Park Zoo.  This year, we bring you the six minute tram to Africa (who would take the seven minute tram when the six minute tram is available?) - all we can say is that they must have found a way to shave a minute off somewhere!  The giraffe feeding was prime, the Red Pandas were up and wandering, and the tortoise was sharing his meal with a rabbit - a wild rabbit, that is (a smart wild rabbit).  Calvin had a great time and was actually awake for part of the trip!  One thing we must warn everyone about - if you plan on taking said trip to Africa, be forwearned that getting lunch there takes at least three times longer than the tram ride.

Our return to the zoo

After coming to understand Calvin's subliminal messaging system (hey, T-shirt messages are really the way to go for babies), we decided to take a family trip to the zoo last night. Since the Detroit Zoo is open extra late on Wednesdays during the summer we figured that we could beat the heat and crowds, and possibly see more animal activity by going in the evening. All of the above turned out to be true and we had a great time (and by "we" we mean Jon and Cortney, since Calvin just slept). It was great to be back and to see "our" animals again (we know they missed us, too). The highlights from this trip (besides Calvin, of course) were seeing the rhinos running and playing, and seeing the joey. Who knew that rhinos could be so graceful? And if you don't believe us we have it on video. And the neat thing about the joey was that at our last visit he was still in the pouch and so was Calvin, who was born only six days later so that at this visit both the joey and Calvin were outside their "pouches." It would be an interesting parallel if only Calvin could walk, but alas, Calvin was actually just in a different kind of pouch, riding only two layers (Bjorn and human) from where he was last time. All the crowd loves a baby, though, and several onlookers could not resist commenting. All in all Calvin's first zoo trip was a successful one.