Animals, Soccer and Spandex

Hey! Hey! We're going to the zoo today!

Anja had a great day today (and in all honesty, I did too). We began the day at Como Zoo, by scoping out all of the animals outside, then ducking in and out of the rain visiting buildings that housed other animals for the remainder of the time. For a zoo with free admission ($2 recommended donation for adults and $1 for children), I was very impressed. It was our first visit there, and won't be our last. Anja seems to like polar bears and they'll be opening an exhibit aptly named Polar Bear Odyssey in 2010, so we'll be back (if she still digs them)! Check Como out if you haven't; it's worth the trip!

A zebra. (Token photo from the zoo--because you have to put at least one animal photo up.)

Anja loved their water table. The floating turtles were a hit, a water toy made by Learning Resources.

Erik has been reffing soccer games all week at USA Cup. His dad started the tournament 24 years ago and it has become one of the world's largest youth soccer tournaments with around 1,000 teams participating. We took Anja to the opening ceremonies, where she got her first glimpse of fireworks and skydivers. It was a memorable night for her as one of her new favorite words is "parachutes!" In between watching races at the Velodrome (see below), we kicked around Anja's new MN Thunder soccer ball (size 1) and cruised around the fields. She's sleeping very soundly right now, probably because we traversed the fields a few times!

This evening's entertainment was a trip to the National Sports Center's Velodrome. Every Thursday evening, May through September, they have track (cycling!) racing there. This too is worth a trip . . . it's racing like you've never seen before. Grown men and women on bikes flinging eachother down a wooden track, cyclists chasing motorcycles, and so much more. If you're ever interested in attending, give us a call!

Our view of the action.