It's All Happening At The Zoo

Our last big outing while visiting my parents was a trip to the zoo.  This was Liam's favorite part of the trip because he knew the dinosaurs were back at the zoo and he couldn't wait to see them again.  Each summer the Detroit Zoo installs a whole raft of animatronic dinosaurs that move and bellow and spit water (some of them).  You walk a gravel path through a wooded area and the dinos are all tucked into the trees.  They're huge and really cool and very, very well done so Liam was excited.

But before we hit the dinosaurs, we stopped into the Butterfly House.  This is always a calming oasis of green plants and fluttering lepidoptera.  Dad planned ahead and wore red which always attracts the butterflies.

Two landed on his back to start with.

Then one moved up to his shoulder.

The dinosaurs were even better this year than the last time we saw them.  They had more of them and they were fantastic.  

Brachiosaurus

T. Rex

Quetzalcoatlus

They don't spare the gore, either.

The detail was amazing.

"Wow, Mom!"

Giganotasaurus.  Yes, he was HA-UGE.

After the dinos we wandered through a bunch of the zoo.  We didn't see the whole thing because it's a big zoo and Jamie has a time limit.  We were working to see as much as we could before we needed to head home so Jamie could nap and before the worst of the heat of the day.  But, we got to see a fair bit and then snagged a ride on the train to get back to the front of the zoo.

Mandarin Duck

River Otter

The ubiquitous peacock

Gorilla.  He was magnificent.

The boys and me at the entrance to the polar exhibit.

Jamie inside the polar exhibit

Liam on the train

It was a great day and I'm really glad we saved it for our last outing of the trip.  It gave the kids something to look forward to and ended our vacation on a high note.  Days like this one remind of how much easier things are getting as the kids get older.  We still have our rough spots - oh boy, do we - but getting out and having fun together is a regularly attainable goal these days.

Now, we're back in the swing of things here at home and looking toward the start of school.  In just two more weeks Liam will be a first grader.  Where did the summer go?