4th of July

As the kids get older, I can't help but hope that they always love to celebrate holidays as much as their mom does -- that they never lose the spark to dress up and decorate; to eat cake and to make memories that will stay with them forever.

Even though the girls are past the stage of decorating their bikes and riding in the neighborhood parade, they still humored me by wearing festive red/white/blue ensembles while we rode down to the park on the decorated golf cart.

The weather was perfect for playing in the sun and letting the wind blow pinwheels attached to your bike.

Five years old and living his best life!

Watching the parade go by with our neighbor:

Perhaps one of the best highlights of the day: Jack won the Bass Fishing Competition for his age division and proudly sported his medal around his neck all day.  (He was also given a gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods that he later used for more tackle and fishing supplies).

Games Galore under the Pavilion for the neighborhood:

Showing off their prizes from the Game Wheel:

Sand castle-building competition:

Lots of options for the build:

Her legs go on for miles, it seems!

We ended the evening with fireworks over the lake (watching on the boat) but sparklers/fireworks in the driveway.

I taught Jimmy that he cold write his name with the sparklers and he tried really hard to get all five letters out before the sparkler died.  Ha!

Jack loves his jersey from flag football and his Adidas slides ... and he loves fireworks even more!

The Detroit Zoo

One of the things that we really wanted to do this year was to take the kids to the Detroit Zoo.  We were considering going last year (because everyone was able to walk and we would not have to deal with a stroller) but it was tricky because of more rigid COVID restrictions and we just never worked it out.  This year, I went online -- bought tickets ahead of time -- and crossed my fingers that the weather would cooperate for the day that I chose two weeks in advance.  They were still limiting the crowds and many of the concessions (and all of the vending machines) were closed.  

While I did pack a small snack for everyone, the kids opted to leave their water bottles in the van because they did not want to lug them around.  Looking back, that was a mistake because it wasn't too long into our walk in the zoo that they were all complaining that they were thirsty.  It took forever to find a place with water inside the zoo, but once we did, the kids were good to go for the rest of the venture.

Our first stop was inside the butterfly and bird exhibit.  It was incredibly humid inside, but it was fun to look at all of the beautiful colors of butterflies that would land on the leaves and flowers all around us.  I had to keep warning Jimmy to watch where he was stepping because several of them would land right in the walkway.

A beautifully-colored and bright macaw in the background:

Another fan favorite among the kids (but not so much by me!) was the Reptile House.

The camels were magnificent in the background.

It must have been time for their morning nap:

There were thousands of coins in the water surrounding this fountain:

Sophia was wearing her "Flamingo Princess" shirt that Grandpa bought for her in Florida last year (and one of her most favorite t-shirts) and her main goal was just to see a flamingo.  We did see one; it was just very far in the background.

Some of the flowers at the zoo were beautiful and Jimmy obliged me by taking a picture in front of some of them.

The rhinos (and later, the anteater) were my favorite animals to see that day at the zoo.  The rhinos were so huge and we were able to see them up close.

Muddy but breathtaking in size:

The zebras were out in their pasture, but we enjoyed seeing them.

The anteater!!!  Yup, he was my favorite.

Probably the least exciting exhibit that day for us was the polar bears.  It was one of our last stops and we walked forever to get to see them, only to find that they were not there.  Or maybe, we saw a tuft of fur?  This was the best picture of a polar bear that we were able to get.  Ha!

Then, as we were walking out, Jimmy found a really fun-looking caterpillar and let it crawl up his arm.

All in all, we really lucked out with the beautiful weather and we all agreed that it was fun to see all of the animals.  Next year, we might take them to Binder Park Zoo.  (I've been there twice before -- once when I was pregnant with Samantha and again when she was a toddler; I am far overdue for another trip over there ... especially to be able to feed their giraffes!).