Our Visit to Michigan

 Hi all!  My sisters and I were in Michigan two weeks ago for fall break.  We were all so glad for a break from school (we started on August 3!) and had a great time with our grandparents.  Dad and Elizabeth pretty much lived in the library, Georgia and Mom watched Pride and Prejudice (the 6 hour BBC version), and I hung out with Grandma and Grandpa.  My uncle, aunt and cousins (Victoria, McKenna, and Kit) flew up for the second weekend, and on Saturday my grandparents took us to the Toledo Zoo.  They have membership there, so Elizabeth, Georgia, McKenna, and I got in for free.

 At a pumpkin farm that we visit every year, they have this lovely pumpkin carriage.  Sadly this one doesn't have Cinderella inside.  :^)

While we were waiting to get in the zoo, we noticed that the zoo was having what they called "Little Boo" where, for a price, you could go trick-or-treating in the zoo. 

Once we got in, our first stop was the "Arctic Encounter".

"I wonder how many girls there are dressed up as Elsa or Anna." McKenna pondered as two sisters dressed up as the queen and princess passed us.

"Let's keep track."

"Chrissa, I really think you should take off that cape." Georgia gazed disapprovingly.

"But it's awesome!" I replied.  "Besides, I've seen lots of costumes around."

"On children."

Elizabeth, watching us carefully, changed the subject.  "Look!  There's a seal now."

 "Aw!  It's so cute!" McKenna exclaimed.

"I can't wait to see the otters." I sighed.  Last year, when we visited, we had lots of fun watching the otters.

"Me too!" Georgia agreed. "Seals and otters are so cute."

"Look, girls, that polar bear is right next to the glass!" Grandma said.

"Cool!" I said. "I want to see the gray wolves now."  We all walked over, but we didn't see any of the wolves.  Maybe they taking an afternoon nap.

The Africa exhibit was closed for upgrades, so we stared walking to the bridge.

"I'm really excited to see the new aquarium." Elizabeth commented. "It sounds fascinating."

"We are too." Grandpa agreed. "Your Grandma and I haven't been to the zoo since it opened."

I watched the cars pass underneath us as we crossed the bridge.

"Oo!  Penguins!" Georgia pointed to an enclosure next to the aquarium.  "Let's go take a look."

"Two more Elsas and an Anna." McKenna  ticked off on her fingers. "That brings us up to 6 Anna costumes, and 9 Elsa ones."

"It's strange how popular Frozen still is, you know?" I said. "It came out in 2013!"

"I love seeing all the cute costumes." Elizabeth smiled. "I wish I had a Belle gown like that little girl's."

"I'm happy with my cape." I twirled on the concrete outside the aquarium.

"Shall we go in?" Grandma asked.

We oo-ed and ah-ed over all the aquatic creatures.  I thought these jellyfish looked like underwater moons.

I have to admit, the Toledo zoo's aquarium was really cool!  They had all kinds of different animals, fish, and plants.  The building was a lot bigger than I expected, and was happy to have benches to sit on.  ;^)

"Chrissa!  Look at these, um. interesting fish!" McKenna called.

"Oh!  Well, this is a very interesting fish." I said. "He doesn't look very happy, does he?"

"Indeed not." Elizabeth agreed.

After the aquarium, we walked on the "Tembo Trail".

"We're almost to the otters!"

"YAY!!!" I dragged everyone along with me. "Hurry!"

"We're coming, Chrissa!" Elizabeth laughed.  "Goodness!"

Someone said something about a hippo, so I paused for a moment to snap a picture before racing on to see those otters.

"They're so cute!" I was following the otter's every move with the camera.

"Whew!  It doesn't smell to good in here."

"Way to ruin the moment, Georgia!" I said, not looking up from the camera.

"I just love otters." I said.

"I never would have guessed, Chrissa."

"Look!" I exclaimed, camera firing rapidly.  "It's eating a pumpkin!  That's so cute!"

"Do you think otters like pumpkin pie?" Grandma asked.

"Probably not." Elizabeth said.

"On the contrary, my dear, I think they would." I retorted.

Elizabeth turned to face me. "How could they eat it?"

"With their adorable paws, of course!" I stated, placing my hands on my hips.

Everyone laughed.

"Was it something I said?"

From there, we saw elephants, 

caramels (I'm thinking of my Halloween candy I want to eat) camels, 

 . . . and tigers.  Georgia said she liked his coat.  I said I liked his smile.  We all laughed.

All in all, we had a great visit to Michigan.

If you could travel anywhere (for free!), where would you go?

P.S. In case you're wondering, we saw a total of

Elsa - 11

Anna - 7

To the Toledo Zoo!

 Hi all!  Yesterday afternoon, we - oh, wait a minute.  I need to update you all first.

 Last Wednesday, we flew to Michigan!  Our cousins, the Brooks, came in on Thursday.  It's kind of cozy in our grandparents house with all of us here, but it's fun staying with our cousins.

We are here because of my parent's work, and since my sisters and I are all home-schooled, we got to come along.  Our grandparents live pretty close to the Michigan/Ohio border, so this afternoon they drove Elizabeth, Georgia, McKenna, and I down to the Toledo Zoo! (Kit and Victoria didn't want to.)  Our first stop was "Arctic Encounter".

"I'm afraid these polar bears are not very polite." Elizabeth commented.

"What? Why?" I asked, confused.

She smiled.

 "Because that one is sticking it's tongue out at you." she replied, gesturing to the bear.

McKenna, Georgia and I both giggled.

"Silly bear."

 After that, we walked over to the gray wolf area.

"Are these really gray wolves?" I asked, peering at them.  "They really look more white."

"They do have some gray on them." Georgia commented.

"Perhaps it is the lighting." Elizabeth offered.

"Or maybe it's a disguise!" McKenna suggested with a laugh.

After watching the wild wolves wander, we moved on to "Africa!".

It was kind of funny seeing the fall leaves and colors mixed with the zebras and wildebeests, among other animals.

"Look!" Elizabeth pointed to the far corner. "Giraffes!"

"O-o" Georgia and I said in unison.

"There's like, five of them!" Georgia said excitedly.

"Wow." McKenna added.

From there, you had to walk over a bridge to get to the other half of the zoo.

So, we started heading in that direction, ...

... and enjoying the fall colors (which could not be seen in Florida, that's for sure!).

From there, we wandered over to the Reptile House.

It's one of three remaining buildings from the zoo was first built, and I think it looks like something out of a movie. Do you think so?

I think this is one of my favorite pictures from our visit, besides the otters.  The way this green snake hung was so strange!  They also had this huge gator (it was like, 16 feet long or something!).  But it stayed under the water, so unfortunately we couldn't take a good picture.

We exited the hot Reptile House, and walked over to the otter/hippopotamus area.

"Come over here!" Georgia called. "These otters are adorable!"

"Oh, they are so cute!" I smiled.

"If you put your hand right by the glass," Elizabeth said, "they will swim right up by it."

Just then, McKenna's cell phone rang. "Excuse me."

I could only here traces of the conversation (I wan't snooping, honest), but what I did hear was very interesting.

"... yes, we were just looking at the otters, - no, I will not get you one as a pet!  They belong to the zoo... I have not ridden any hippos and do not plan on it ... I know you would ..."

After we had oh-ed and ah-ed over the otters, our grandparents called us over to the hippo.

"Girls, it just yawned!" Grandma said. "It has some large teeth."

"Chomp, chomp, chomp!" said our grandpa, make us laugh.  At this point the hippo turned it's back on us, and my sisters and I agreed that it was not a nice picture.  He-he.  McKenna hung up, and walked over to us, looking thoroughly shocked.

"Even though she's my sister, she always is surprising me."

From there, we moved on to the elephant trail.

One of the elephants, a semi-baby, was very playful.  He (or she, I don't know which) was fun to watch.  As we were heading to another section, the zoo made an announcement on the loudspeaker.

"The Toledo Zoo is closing in 30 minutes. I repeat: the zoo is closing in 30 minutes.  Please make your way to the exit gates."

So, we turned around and walked towards the bridge.

"Georgia, please stop flipping your hair in my face!" I said, brushing her dark curls out of my face.

"It's not me - it's the wind!" Georgia told me. "There isn't much I can do about it."

"This was very fun, Grandma and Grandpa.  Thank you!" Elizabeth said.

"Yea, thank you!" I echoed.

"Thanks!" Georgia added.

"Thank you!" McKenna said.

"You are welcome, girls." Grandma said, giving all of us hugs.

"We're so glad you are here with us." Grandpa said.

I had such a fun time with my sisters, cousin and grandparents!

Have you ever visited a zoo?

October 20th update: McKenna did a post about her trip with us!  Here's the url: http://thebrooksadventuresdollblog.blogspot.com/2014/10/to-zoo.html