Perfect Zoo Walk

Many members of our family joined us at the Detroit Zoo yesterday to Walk for Miracles.  It was an early day, but the weather was perfect! Registration for the event started at 7:30am.  It was about an hour drive down, so we had to wake the kids early to get on the road.  They both fell back to sleep on the way down.

When we arrived we met Sam’s mom and dad, Sam’s sister and her family, her sister’s friend and her kids, and Sam’s brother and his girlfriend.  My dad and Rose arrived shortly after that. 

Upon arriving we walked by a pretty impressive set up by Amazon.  Every single child who walked in got to pick a toy from the table.  There was everything from puzzles and games to stuffed animals and Legos there. 

The theme of the walk is heroes/superheroes.  When we got inside the zoo, we were handed our Walk for Miracles medallion and we got to choose a cape.  Edna from The Incredibles may say, “No capes!” But they were a sign of unity among everyone walking for someone special yesterday.

As we walked through the zoo, there were various Cosplayers dressed as superheroes and more along the path.  The kids (all 9 of them) were thrilled to meet Batman, Superman , Wonder Woman, Deadpool, various Star Wars characters, the Ghostbusters and plenty of Disney princesses.

Ella was just a bit star struck by Cinderella, who just happened to have the Fairy Godmother with her.

Everyone got to see their favorite animals, too!  Andrew got to see the lions, Ella saw her zebras, my nephew was happy to see the polar bear, and I saw the sea otters. Well, I guess not everyone saw their favorite…the penguin house wasn’t open yet, so Sam didn’t get to see them.

Maybe it was because it was early in the day, but there was a lot of activity among the animals yesterday. The kangaroos were hopping, the brown bears were out walking around, the gorillas and monkeys were putting on quite an amusing show and the tigers were up close where everyone could see them.  I always feel like if we go on a summer day, the animals are in their caves or just laying around sleeping.

As the morning progressed, it got a bit hotter.  It was about 55-60 when we left the house and the weather app said that the temperature would be around 65 by the time we’d be done.  I decided to wear jeans instead of shorts and Sam wore a sweatshirt.  We were both toasty.  Luckily for her, she was able to change into the T-shirt we got from the walk. 

Even though we were all walking together, we had some who walked ahead and some who lagged a bit behind.  Bathroom pit stops also played into where people were.  I tried to float among everyone who was there and talk to everyone and thank them for being there.

By the time we reached the end, I think we were all exhausted.  All in all, it was just wonderful to share the day with family.  We will most certainly be doing the walk again next year!