Time Together

It's easy to get caught up in the day to day, to concentrate on all of the things that you "should" do, instead of those that you "want" to do. Children set such a great example of living for the moment - something we should all spend more time doing...and doing together.

Our Memorial Day was very special, spent at the Detroit Zoo as a family. Not separated by different sports, jobs or responsbilities, but all six of us together, for an entire day.

While Robby had been to the zoo last year, this was the first trip that he was really aware of his surroundings - he was so excited I think he stopped breathing a couple of times LOL. The penguins were our first stop (mainly because it was the first exhibit we came to) and Robby pointed and squealed at them over and over again.


Rob was the navigator/tour guide, and Riley read the signs next to the exibits to learn about the animals. Riley was excited to learn about the monkeys because she was doing a school project about them, and Allie kept wondering if she was EVER going to get to see the giraffes. Dom helped out with Alex and Robby, lifting them when they needed help to see something, and only giving us his "teenager look" a couple of times. :-)

I of course documented the day with my camera, even stopping once to set up the self timer to get a few pics of all of us together. While we were stopped, Rob took a few pics of Robby and me too - this is soooo cool, PROOF that I was actually there. It is so rare that I am in the photos, I'm happy to have these.

This year the Detroit Zoo has a dinosaur garden. Alex was a little nervous initially, but after the first couple of scary dinosaurs (and seeing that Robby was NOT afraid) she soon began running ahead with Riley to see the next one. Their favorite was the dinosaur that spit water on unsuspecting passers by.

Our initial plan was to spend just a couple of hours at the zoo, and 5 hours later with Robby fading fast and the girls starting to get grumpy, we finally decided to pack it in. Alex had walked the entire time - Robby was the only one in a stroller. Rob ended up carrying Allie for the last little bit because she said her legs were soooo tired. The kiddos fell fast asleep on the way home.

It was a beautiful day....

With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson