An Outing to the Zoo

I took the meterologist's advice to heart: when she said, "Make plans to be outside on Sunday, it's going to be gorgeous," I thought it would be fun to see the new penguin exhibit at the Minnesota Zoo with the girls, giving Wayne some time to recover from his 22-mile run this morning.

As it happens in our house at times, Marissa lost the privilege of going to the zoo. I could hear the girls' squabbling while I fixed pancakes, then heard it escalating until finally Marissa pushed Lindsey. She and I talked at length about what you should do if someone makes you mad (tell a parent, use your words, walk away), but the one she remembers first is the one that's not allowed. Perhaps her loss of the trip to the zoo will continue to reinforce this for her.

So before lunchtime Lindsey and I headed off to the zoo. And I can say it was a glorious day.


How bactrian camels keep cool in Minnesota, surrounded by algae in a pool.

We saw whichever exhibits Lindsey wanted to see, for however long she wanted to see them. Our timing was such that we happened to catch the dolphin show with a minimal amount of waiting. We hadn't seen the dolphin show in years, usually due to poor timing or the strong wish of one or more other family to NOT see the show.

Not a dolphin -- an amur leopard.

Afterwards we took the monorail around the whole zoo, looking down on all of the exhibits. This was a great idea because we got tired and worn out before we could walk many of the paths, so the only way we saw many of the animals was by an aerial view.

We ate some lunch, saw the penguins, then started down the tropics trail. We first came across the lemurs, who were all snuggled up together looking adorable.

Ring-tailed lemurs.

"Awww," Lindsey said, "That makes me miss Dax. Let's go home."

And so we did.

This is not to say that Marissa and I would not have had a great time -- I'm sure we would have. But it is so much simpler to have only one child to go on excursions like this, it doesn't matter which one. There is only one child whose desires matter, who's state of tiredness or hunger needs attention.

I'm sure that some other weekend Lindsey will be losing privileges, and she'll be the one who has to stay home with one parent while Marissa goes someplace fun with the other. But for now, I will enjoy the day that we had.