The Kassel Family Project Life 365

It was off to the St. Louis Zoo today to take advantage of our new family membership.  Ninety dollars is a great price for 48 passes, free parking, 10% off all shops and food, and reciprocal admission to other zoos.  We started the day at Caribbean Cove petting the stingrays and sharks.  I highly, highly recommend this if you ever get the chance.  It was amazing!  We spent nearly an hour in there and even got to feed the stingrays.  That is a very strange feeling!  They essentially suck the seafood (shrimp, etc.) out of your hand.

We spent the rest of the day seeing different animals that we had talked about with the kids.  Within the last year, the St. Louis Zoo received two Tasmanian Devils in an effort to save the species from a disease that is quickly killing them in the wild.  Only one of them came out while we were by their enclosure, but she sure is cute!  The kids loved seeing her.

Of course we had to stop by Big Cat Country.  I can’t help it.  It is my favorite.  I love those big cats!  I love it even more when they are lazy and just being a cat…

Another favorite stop is the Sea Lion exhibit.  You can walk underneath and watch them swimming around you.  The Sea Lions like to swim right up to the glass and look at the people.  Laura was thrilled when one of them swam right up to her!

The kids really wanted to see the Sea Lion show, so we used some of our passes to attend.  It was cute and both kids got a big laugh when the sea lion used the slide.

We finished the day visiting the Polar Bear and the penguin house.  We left the zoo right as it closed.  About twenty minutes later, I noticed that it was really quiet in the back seat and turned around to discover this…

Asleep!  He must have had a rough day.  When we woke John up because we stopped for dinner, he did not realize he had been sleeping and insisted that he had *not* fallen asleep.  I will call that a successful day!

We went to the Memorial Day parade in downtown Columbia just like we do every year.  The parade had a slightly different route this year and was more spread out.  We waited a while before the parade reached us, giving me the opportunity to take some pictures beforehand.

We were joined by Rachel and Alia and the Dothages.  The kids had a great time watching everything go by.

Different airplanes fly over the parade while others “ride” through the parade…

The parade ended at the Columbia College Soccer Field where the US Army Golden Knights and Canadian SkyHawks landed.  I always love seeing these two groups!

Afterwards we decided to go to Agave for lunch to celebrate “that other thing” (my 43rd birthday).  I had a tasty margarita and enjoyed time with my family and great friends.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing.  It was a great way to spend Memorial Day and my birthday!

One of the best parts of Memorial Day weekend is the Salute to Veterans Airshow.  Another great thing is that our kids are *finally* old enough to stay the whole day!  We got there at 9:15 and didn’t leave until 3:30.  Upon arrival, we walked around for a bit to see the different planes.

Then, we set up our chairs right at the center of the show.  In all of our years of attending the airshow, we have never been right at “show center.”  It was great!  Everything happened directly in front of us.  The weather was perfect and both the Canadian SkyHawks and the US Army Golden Knights got to jump *and* land right in front of us!  The Canadian SkyHawks jumped first.  They brought down the US Flag in a group of three.

The second group of SkyHawks did the “Candy Cane,” and the kids loved it!

One of the unique things about the airshow is that the parachute teams always interact with the crowd while repacking their parachutes.  This SkyHawk spent about an hour answering questions.  The kids were very interested and impressed that he took the time to answer all the questions.

The Golden Knights jumped after the SkyHawks.  The Golden Knights always do more free fall formations.  This diamond formation is one of my favorites.

We spent most of the rest of the day watching all the different airplane demonstrations.  We got to see an F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Canadian equivalent, the CF-18 Hornet.

We also got to see the Kansas City Dawn Patrol, the BT-13 Vultee, and the T-28B Trojan.  We were hot an tired at the end, but what a great day!

It is drinks and snacks on the back deck on this beautiful, Saturday afternoon.

Father and son watching the Cubs win one over the Philadelphia Phillies.

A picture while we wait on the bus for the last day of school.  By the end of today, we will have a fifth grader and third grader!  Where has the time gone?  Don’t blink.

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