Boo At The Zoo

About 2 weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Brookfield Zoo in
the Chicago area for their yearly Halloween event called "Boo At The
Zoo." We try to make this event (along with many others) every year
if we're in town for one of the weekends that they offer it. We all
go (Ryan & Cayt, Dan & Therese, and Bruce and I). It's always fun to
see the animals and the cute costumes that people arrive in. No, we
don't dress up. Actually, we are happier watching from the sidelines.

Believe it or not...most of us aren't comfortable with lots of
attention. Even for our birthdays. We get uncomfortable with the
staff at restaurants singing "Happy Birthday" to us. Seriously! We
even have a family policy that was agreed upon a few years ago. We
have all agreed that when we go out to dinner for a birthday
celebration (one of our traditions)....none of us will let any
restaurant employees know that we are there for a birthday. If there
is a free dessert or dinner involved....we wait until the very last
part of the dinner and then we beg that no one sings. So far, this
has worked. : ) Seriously, as you can see, we reaaallly like to
blend in. Funny when you think about the career that Ryan and Dan
have chosen. : ) But it's true.

We had such a great time at the zoo and discovered that there is a new
exhibit for wolves and bears (grizzly and polar) that we all loved!
Made us feel like we were visiting California Adventure park at
Disneyland in California.

Dan and I love the big grizzly bears and I love the wolves too. This
exhibit is perfect for us! Whenever we're driving through the
northeast on tour, you will find Dan and I quietly searching the
hundreds of miles of forest and mountains, looking for that brown
spot in amongst the trees or in the open meadow that would be a
grizzly bear. We've discussed what we would actually do if we ever
saw one and particularly if it was up close (depending of course on
if we were in a moving vehicle or walking back to the van at a gas
station). We would both love it! None so far so, it was
particularly fun for us to see these 2 big guys pretty close up. I
will say ....as I was looking at them and how sweet and cuddly they
looked, it did occur to me that this would probably not be my
thoughts if I had one of them chasing me or even worse catching me
(the chase would last approximately one second I'm sure). But they
are just amazing and beautiful! A gift!

One of the other exhibits was an underwater viewing of some seals and
fish. Of course there was a pile of little kids with their noses
smashed up against the glass as they watched one particular seal
gliding around gracefully in front of them over and over again and
very close to the glass. One little boy would just giggle and giggle
every time the seal passed by and he had the most contagious giggle.
Sheer joy was it's message every time you'd hear it. The other
little kids were excited too but none as much as this one little boy.
Without knowing it, this little guy made almost everyone smile as
they walked by and heard him. A sweet little gift!

Later that afternoon, one of the big exhibits was under construction
which meant that we had to walk around the construction fences and
into a grassy park area to get to the next area we were headed. As we
were walking, I noticed the sound of the crunch and the rustling of
the leaves as we all walked through them shuffling along and kicking
them up in the air for fun. I don't know about you but I know for
me......I'm so busy all the time, I can't even remember the last time
I walked through the leaves and even paid attention to their sound.
But this day, I did!
Another gift!

So today....as we take this journey to the lives we are meant to
live.....go out and kick up some leaves or go to the zoo. GIve
yourself one of these secret little gifts. Pay attention to the
little things that are around us every day. They can make you smile.
This will be the first of many more smiles to come and one day
without you being aware of it.....you will be smiling more often than
not and then you will know that you really are living a great life!