Splash Pad

Sunday we took a little stroll downtown to explore a little. We decided before we left the condo that we wanted to walk around Tin Caps Stadium to see the new office building Gordy's firm is building (which over looks the stadium).

As we got there, a game was just ending. We could see just inside the gate was an awesome splash pad, so we walked on in and let Jack have some fun. He really loved it! I think it's going to be a splash pad summer for us!

Old Fort Wayne

While we were on one of our morning walks at Headwaters Park the other day, we almost peed our pants when we heard a cannon go off out of no where. Seriously. You should have seen Jack jump in the stroller. So, we wandered over to the old fort and found out that there was some kind of reenactment going on for school children, but it was open to the public on the following day.

So, Saturday morning we threw on our walking clothes and headed over to check it out. It was pretty interesting to say the least. The whole set up was based on a time line, so as you walked along the path, you could view tents/costumed people/professions of different time periods. These actors took things pretty seriously. Let's just say that we ran into more than one man in chaps and a loin cloth with nothing on underneath... (note to men in loin clothes and chaps: please do not bend over).

We got to see some people dressed like they were from the Renaissance periods, a civil war troop, and Benjamin Franklin and his wife!

Inside the fort we ran into the awesome guy dressed completely in leather from head to to toe, saw some guns, some old ladies playing some instrument (I forget the name) that is supposedly the ONLY truly American instrument there is, and this guy who was supposed to be a doctor, but he completely freaked me out and stared me down and started yelling instructions at me about looking up chamomile or something. That part was really weird. And awkward.

It turns out that we got to the event pretty early, before most of the festivities started. It probably would have been a lot more awesome if we went later in the day when all of the tents were open and there were performances, but it was soooo HOT at 10:30 a.m. I was glad we didn't go later in the afternoon.

Anyway, it's pretty cool that there is this old fort just right down town for everyone to enjoy. Love finding little surprises around the city, even if they aren't our usual cup of tea.

Fort Wayne Zoo

Little did we know when we accepted a summer associate offer from a law firm in Fort Wayne, that we would be living 2 miles away from one of the top ranked children’s zoos in the country!

We went today, before Gordy starts his internship, and while the weather was perfect outside. What a treat it was too. It really was beautiful.

We started off by going to the African exhibit, where we saw lions, hyenas, giraffes, and striped mongoose (one of Jack’s favorite) just to name a few. By the time we were half way through Africa, Jack started saying “awwwww” every time we came up to a new animal. A couple of times he even said “Awwww, cuuuute!” (sounding almost exactly like a valley girl). Definitely something he picked up from me. haha

Then we headed over to see the sea lions and the peacocks. The “birdies” (peacocks) are left to just roam around the zoo, and they were Jack’s absolute favorite. Gord gave him the bright idea to try to touch it, so Jack wandered around after the peacocks whispering “touch eeeet”…. He even got close enough to one to touch the tail, until of course I screamed because I was scared the peacock  would have some sort of survival instinct and bite Jack. The peacock did not appreciate my screaming and he immediately flew on top of a roof to get away from us. Whoopsie. Jack was so proud of himself for being quick enough and brave enough to actually touch it.

We spent a few minutes in Austraila’s Great Barrier Reef, but we only saw about a quarter of the exhibit because it was getting close to closing time and we still wanted to see Indonesia.

Indonesia was my absolute favorite. The zoo had so many different types of monkeys, tigers, and birds, and the entire exhibit made you feel like you were walking in a rainforest. I think that Gordy and I loved the orangutans best of all. They were so huge, and to watch these massive guys swing around was incredible.

We had to rush the last couple of exhibits, but overall I’d say we had a really fun family outing. It was so neat to watch Jack watch the animals, even though he called pretty much every animal a doggie. Glad we got to experience this little gem of Fort Wayne together today. It was perfect.