Another Catch-up

Kurt tried to fix the camera yesterday. Apparently this problem (lens error) happens to a lot of people and there is currently a class action suit against Canon because of it. Kurt found directions online and decided to undertake the challenge. Well, from the looks of it (the camera pieces are all over the desk), I think he's still working on the repair.

And so I ensue with the catch-up pre-camera-breakage posts. We had a fun little zoo excursion about a month ago with some friends, and I never posted the pix. I also had another fun zoo excursion this last week at a different zoo (and Kurt took the kids last Saturday), but unfortunately, we have not a single picture to celebrate our zoo-mania except for this one trip. It shall represent all the zoo fun had over the course of the last month.

Oh, and if anyone is wondering how we can afford to go to all these museums and zoos, etc... it is because of the phenomenal library system in Cambridge/Boston. The library allows you to check out free or deeply discounted passes to virtually every museum in the area, some historical sites, and the zoo. So, I don't have to pay for any of this stuff!! I LOVE LIVING HERE!! We did end up buying an AMSE pass ($35/yr. for access to museums all over the country) b/c it gets us into the Children's Museum for free instead of the $4 it usually costs us with the library pass.

Peacock. Madi tried to scare it so the feathers would go up (a habit from childhood that I'm afraid I am encouraging in my kids. :), but it didn't work. Darn. It did work once when I was little, so I will not lose hope.

Madi, Madeleine, and Gretchen looking at the flamingos. A sign in the Stone Zoo (this is the Franklin Park Zoo) says that flamingos naturally love living really close to one another and that's why their cage smells so bad. They don't smell at the Franklin Park Zoo and my friend, Sarah, tells me that they don't smell at the Providence Zoo, either. I think our friends at Stone Zoo need to clean out the flamingo cage.

Not sure what they are looking at, but I just thought the picture was cute.

I have mixed feelings about visiting the zoo. On the one hand, it's really fun and educational to learn about all these animals that we would never normally see. On the other hand, I find it disconcerting to see lethargic and sad-looking animals hanging around their cages. I know they are animals, but wouldn't life seem so meaningless if you were raised in a cage? This picture: case in point (I'm talking about the gorillas, not Madi :))

For all the cool things we saw, I'm afraid the highlight of the day was the carousel. Laura, Meghan, sorry we went after you guys already left. The girls could not pry their eyes away from the "merry-g0-round" and were SO excited to ride it.

Max can't decide if this is fun or scary. He liked it, but I did have to hold him for a few rotations in the middle.

Madi was SOO excited. She talked about this ride for days afterwards. Kind of made the $2 seem worth it.

My friend, Lizzie, and her girls. We are both pregnant, due a day apart. She lives about a half mile down the street from us, and is such a calming influence on me. Madeleine and Madi are about a year apart, but they play really well together. Gretchen and Max are so funny together. Gretchen LOVES Max and says she's going to marry him. :)

I debated even putting this picture on here because it's such a bad picture of me, but I have so few pictures of me and the kids. Just pretend like I don't look like I'm a balding middle-aged man and it will be ok.

The last stop on the trip: the giraffes. The girls were all crying that they wanted to go on another ride on the merry-go-round. Oh, and it was naptime. :)