Summer Day at the Zoo

The weather has been cooler than normal this week, so I thought it would be a good time to go to the zoo. We haven’t visited in a while and I thought the cooler weather would make for a more pleasant trip. Marina brought her Rapunzel doll for company.

It turned out that a lot of people had the same thought. The parking lot was very full when we arrived. We had to park close to a park, so we sat there and ate lunch picnic style before walking into the zoo.

The animals seemed to be more active today, probably due to the cool weather. Marina was delighted that one of the tigers was stalking around. We saw him climb into the pool and lounge there. The sea lions were swimming around the windows so we saw they quite close up. Two Gibbon monkeys were also playing for the crowds. They climbed up and down trees and across ropes. And as we walked by, a pair of cranes started whooping. As we watched them do that, we noticed they were guarding a single egg.

We went through tropical and bird exhibits. As we headed out, Marina rode the carousel. She picked out a tiger to ride on, but considered changing her mind many times before the carousel started.

Marina browsed the gift shop before we made the long walk to the car. It turned out to be a great day to visit the zoo.

Swinging Through Summer with Tarzan

Marina and I have been looking forward to seeing the regional premiere of Disney's Tarzan since we found out about it. Michelle also wanted to see it. We went after lunch today.

We arrived a bit early for the show, so we looked around the theater grounds. There was a play area with a giant sea serpent sculpture in it. We were all interested in taking a closer look. It turned out it had some water features as well – misters and waterfalls. Since today was a very hot day, they loved that!

We went inside to see the show and walked through an art gallery to get to the theater. So we took a look at it as we walked. Michelle and Marina were pleased with our seats, which were in the front row. While we waited for the show to start, we all read through the program.

Once the show got started, we loved it. Of course, we’ve all seen the movie but there were some differences in this version. Marina and I both cried during the sad scenes. But once it was over, we all gave the cast a standing ovation.

American Girl Movie Premiere

Tonight was the premiere of the new American Girl movie Isabelle dances into the Spotlight. We arranged for Ainsley to come over for a sleepover.When we got to our house, the girls immediately started to get ready. They each picked a dress so they could match their dolls. Ainsley chose Saige for the night. Marina took Julie.

After dinner, we left for the American Girl store. The activities were in full swing hen we arrived. The girls immediately lined up for the photo booth. Once they had their pictures taken, they checked out the craft tables. They designed clothing for an Isabelle paper doll, created a hair accessory and made a fancy mirror. When they heard “Let It Go” blasting from the Radio Disney booth, they went over to listen. Next they posed for pictures on the red carpet.

We went inside the store and played a scavenger hunt game. They each received an Isabelle poster as a prize.

The girls looked a bit tired, so we lined up for seats for the movie. We managed to find some seats with a great view of the screen. We picked up our snacks, including popcorn, and settled in to watch the movie.

Marina and Ainsley seemed to talk through much of the movie, but afterwards they said they loved it. They were extremely hyper as we headed back to the car.

I tried to get them to settle down on the ride home but that didn’t work very well. It took about an hour at the house to get them to sleep. It had been a very exciting day!

Summer Science

Ever since our last trip to the museum last month, Marina has wanted to go back. So we went this afternoon. When we arrived, the first place she wanted to go was the new kids area.

When we arrived it was pretty crowded. So Marina wandered through all the activities and found that the tables with animal activities were available. She played around there for a while. The she headed to the construction zone, where she built with many types of blocks.

By far, Marina had the most fun in the water play area. It's a very elaborate set up with fountains, whirlpools, faucets and sprayers. Marina loved a whirlpool in a glass case. She dropped balls into it and they spiraled down to the bottom. Sometimes a large ball would get into the bottom and plug up the bottom which made the glass overflow. Marina loved watching it.

After playing in the water, and getting soaked, we moved on to the dinosaur area. Marina crawled on a duck-billed dinosaur and hunted for buried bones.

After Marina had explored the whole area, we went to the health exhibit. It wasn't too busy, so Marina was able to complete her favorite activities. We also completed an experiment extracting DNA from wheat germ.

After going through the health exhibit, we decided to go home. We'd had a fun afternoon of science.

Artsy Afternoon

When Marina learned about a local art festival, she told me she was interested in going. We'd never been before, but we decided to give it a try.

We headed to the festival after lunch. It was much larger than we expected and it was forecasted to be the hottest day of the year so far. At first we just started walking from booth to booth. Marina glanced at some of the artist's booths, but didn't want to stop to look very often, although several booths of industrial art sculptures got her attention. We picked up a map and found out where the children's activities were. On the way there, we stopped to see an acrobatic performance. We were both very impressed by the feats the trio performed.

The children's art section was huge and, fortunately, all covered by tents. Marina was able to move from one project to another. She tried her hand at spinning art, glass art and pottery. She created art with paint, markers, glitter and clay. We had quite a collection by the time she tried everything she wanted to.

Before we left, Marina wanted to have her face painted. So we located the booth and had that done. Marina asked for a tropical flower. She was pretty happy with how it turned out.

By this time, we were tired and very hot. So we headed to a nearby mall where the local opera company was performing throughout the day. We caught the last two performances of the day. Marina seemed a bit bored by the songs, though I loved them. To close out the show, the soprano sang the Queen of the Night aria from The Magic Flute, a piece Marina knows and enjoys. She beamed throughout the entire song. Following the performance we spoke to her about the aria. The soprano was thrilled that she performed a piece that Marina loved so much.

Once the opera presentation was over, we headed home. We'd had a fun day experiencing art.

Old Fashioned Fourth

Marina has been looking forward to going to the Old Fashioned July 4 Celebration at the local historic park. She even asked if they had the same celebration for Memorial Day! This year was especially significant because we have been discussing the Boston Tea Party, Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War.

We arrived fairly early since the forecast called for a very hot day. We started off by greeting Uncle Sam who gave Marina some candy and posed for a photo. We then greeted Abraham Lincoln who admired the Civil War cap she was wearing. Marina was disappointed that the ladies were not churning butter and peeling apples as they have in the past.

We sat down to listen to a four piece string band playing some old time music. Then we decided to take a ride on the Prairie Schooner wagon. It was a slow, bumpy ride - I can't imagine riding that way across country as the pioneers did!

We headed toward the kids area where Marina panned for gold. She only took one scoop of the sandy soil, but she patiently sifted through it and ended up with a lot of "gold" in her pan. One of the other children told he she'd hit the jackpot! Next, Marina made a "rocket" out of a toilet paper roll and craft paper.

We found a shady spot and listened to some great music while we ate lunch. We stood for "The Star Spangled Banner," Marina even removed her hat and placed it over her heart! She was hoping to hear "You're a Grand Old Flag" since she learned that one for Veteran's Day last year. We didn't have to wait long, it was part of a medley of songs by George Cohan. I sang along with "Give My Regards to Broadway" and "Yankee Doodle Dandy." Marina thought that was hilarious.

We took a look at some quilters and other hand made craft items. When I heard the band playing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," I insisted we go back to the grove where they were playing. Once they finished, the actor playing Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. It brought tears to my eyes. That presentation was followed by the reading of the Declaration of Independence. Marina was bored by that, but I thought it would be good for her to hear it anyway.

Once that was over, Marina said she was ready to go home. As we headed out, a cowboy approached Marina and said he wanted to trade hats. Marina wasn't sure about that, but they did a temporary switch. I'm not sure why he liked her Civil War cap so much!

Marina in Wonderland

We wanted to make sure we saw the rose garden at the botanic gardens while it was in full bloom. So we headed there today. We hadn't thought about the fact that a new art installation had just opened this week. So the gardens were much busier than usual. But we decided to go anyway.

The Chihuly exhibit is 15 glass sculptures scattered throughout the gardens. The first one was at the entrance and it caught Marina's attention. She really seemed to enjoy the sculptures we saw on our way to the rose garden. Many of them were incorporated into the flowers, creating a fantastic effect. She said to me, "I feel like Alice in Wonderland!"

The rose garden was in full bloom when we arrived there. We spent quite a while looking at all the colors and varieties and smelling them.

After seeing the roses, Marina complained her feet hurt. So we headed for the children's garden so she could cool them off in the wading spring. Once she had her feet in the water she said they felt much better. She spent quite a while playing in the water. Once her feet felt better, she was ready to return to reality.