Last Thursday was our 4 year wedding anniversary. We celebrated in style by having a wonderful dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant called Spezia followed by a romantic evening at home watching Survivor. Jeff Probst really knows how to make an evening of TV special. 🙂 We originally tried to get away for the weekend but had a hard time finding a place that was nearby, accepted dogs and was still open at this time of year. So we had a cozy weekend at home instead, and my was it relaxing.
Friday night our new church called Embrace had their first annual fall festival at a camp practically down the street from our house. (Actually, since Sioux Falls is smaller than the other cities we’re used to, pretty much everything seems practically down the street from our house!) Great food, pumpkin painting, inflatables, sumo wrestling suits, and lots of games. We were surprised to find an old train car next to the picnic area. Very cool. Being a fan of America’s Next Top Model, I know a good photo shoot when I see one. Here are some pictures we took with the train, Michael with our new friend and pastor Adam, the picnic pavilion and some cool pumpkins the kiddos painted.
Saturday we headed off to the Great Plains Zoo for some animal adventures. It was kind of cold and drizzly, which meant we had the zoo almost entirely to ourselves. It did however mean there wasn’t a whole lot going on that day, as noted by the list of daily events.
They had a cool aviary with flamingos and ruby ibises. Or is it ibii? The birds are neat, and I’ve always been a big fan of aviary chains.
The rhino was really cool! We kept laughing about the tail though.
When we got to the rhino we started hearing horrible yelling and screaming from the back of the zoo. It sounded both animalistic and human. It was hard to tell if it was an animal making that noise or of someone was getting murdered. Turns out it was coming from the gibbons in their outdoor and indoor areas. There were three adults and one baby hanging onto it’s mama’s leg. The informational sign said their screams can be heard up to 2 miles away in the rainforest. We quickly understood why contestants on Survivor complain about not being able to sleep when the monkeys are around!!
The skunk-like monkeys next door seemed to be tired of the gibbon’s noise.
This little spider monkey literally threw itself right up against the glass when we peeked in to say hello!
Lots of birds! We were surprised by how many different types of ducks there are. Here are some ducks, a coupla swans, and a kookaburra! I sang the “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree song from elementary school to it, but it seemed unimpressed.
Michael thinks “my animal is a lemur since I have big curious eyes, but I think I may be more of a meerkat. This cold weather however makes me feel more like our sleepy puppy dog Riley who’s snoring next to my feet as I type. Here’s the red ruffed lemur we saw. Isn’t ruffed a fun word? I waved my arms around and danced so Michael could get this picture.
We’ve decided that “Michael’s animal is the noble beaver. It’s the Canadian national beast of course, as well as being both cute and industrious. When he gets antsy about getting stuff done, and if you listen hard enough, you can faintly hear his beaver tail slapping on the water. There were unfortunately no beavers in the zoo. Sorry Michael. They did however have a petting zoo with a fuzzy faced donkey, a cool sculpture of a carousel giraffe, a weird sculpture of a bear and a few fun Halloween decorations.
Then we visited Africa!
Bald eagles and grizzly bears. I miss seeing bald eagles on my drive to work along the Mississippi.
This macaw also came right up to say hello. By the way it posed, maybe it’s a fan of America’s Next Top Model too? Such editorial poses. Look at that fierce close-up! Tyra would be proud.
We were surprised to see cats in the zoo. Cats? Turns out they’re some sort of special mountain tree cat with small ears and round pupils. They glared at us like contemptuous owls.
Look! A duck with a leaf mustache! Quick, Michael! Take a picture! Here he is with and without his disguise.
Turns out they also have a natural history museum, which is a fascinating building of taxidermied animals. Neither of us are really into the whole taxidermy thing, but man was it interesting to see the animals so closely.
Look, Michael! A beaver!! Aw, he’s cute just like you.
I was shocked by the enormity of the seal and walrus in the Arctic exhibit. I had no idea they were so huge. They were at least twice as large as I had expected. If I ever had to battle one, I would place all my betting money on not-me. I won’t speak for Michael though. He’s Canadian, after all. And a beaver.
Some of the animals had awesome expressions. These two are my favorites. Click on the images to see the pictures up close. They’re hilarious.
The no-touching sign about “potentially dangerous chemicals made me a little nervous. (Click the image to enlarge.) What, the chemicals are only potentially dangerous if we touch them? What about breathing? Or is that just a scare tactic, like my favorite blogger Pioneer Woman who went too far telling her children they’d get eaten by swamp monsters if they ever went swimming in their hazardous backyard pond, and ended up with kids terrified of the bathtub. Yep, scare tactics. I bet that’s all it is. (Cough, cough.)
On they way out they had a green screen that put us on TV with animals. Wee!
We even continued to spot more animals in the parking lot.
What a fun, cozy, and goofy anniversary! Three of my favorite parts about being with Michael. I’m incredibly lucky and thankful to be married to such a great guy.