Off to the Zoo

Project 365 - Day 232

We spent most of our day at the Detroit Zoo today... whee!

So this morning I woke up by 830am so we could be ready earlier to take my camera in to the shop and see what could be done about the filter being stuck. Dan had looked up a local place and it turned out to be fantastic. I showed him the damage and he was 'yep I'll cut it off, no worries.' So he did and gave me a replacement filter that I could use till I got home to re-buy the same UV one I had before. As he told me, the filter did its job perfectly, protected my lens, no damage done to it at all. I felt a huge sigh of relief. So after all of that he only charged me $15, nice! A nice start to the day I must say. I HIGHLY recommend getting a filter, you just never know and its a cheaper fix than a new lens.

Went to pick up Jonathan and Dan so we could head to the zoo. We had gotten Ariel new motion sickness bracelets to wear in the car. It seems the highways were giving her a bit of trouble yesterday, as we aren't use to that kind of driving to get everywhere. She had a small 'barf' moment the previous day but because she hadn't eaten yet, we were lucky to say the least. Ariel loves the bracelets and is eager to remind us to put them on her. They are working well, so that is good as we prepare for our longer drives next week.

It was much more muggy today. I didn't like it much, haha. As Ken says, it could be worse, and he is right. The kids don't seem to be affected, although Ariel does complain more about being hot here than she did at home.

The zoo was as awesome as I remembered. Ariel this time is older and can really enjoy it too!

Xander really liked the animals and the train ride we took around the park.

Turtle boy...

...and the butterfly girl.

Ariel the prairie dog, hehe, always my favorite.

Grammy and Xander having fun at the play park.

Yay for zebras!


Dan left to go home to write his exam for his class online and we followed shortly after when the kids started looking zonked. We came home and watched multiple episodes of Spongebob while we all lounged and relaxed away from the sun. We came back earlier to the hotel so we could have dinner with Ken's Dad. We went to Red Robins which was down the road from our hotel.

Xander discovered he has a liking for onion rings like his mother.

Ariel was really taken with the people getting birthday songs, so we got them to come sing for both of the kids. Ariel liked her ice cream and Xander took one bite and decided it was far more fun to just dig in. Yuck!

We came back to the hotel as Ariel was eager to swim in the pool, so I took her in to tire her out for bedtime. Haha. It was very refreshing and I think I actually may be in bed at a normal time tonight. The past few nights I have been up till 2am Michigan time, which is only 11pm back home. Its messing my brain up, and I really have no idea what day it is most of the time... which is ok for holidays right?

Tomorrow we have a family get together for dinner at the park and hoping to see Ken's good animation buddy Steve in the morning. Only 2 more days till we leave for Niagara Falls, yay!