Baltimore Zoo & Picnics

We had all planned to go to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore together, but my husband's back pain and appointments kept him home. It was just as well, because the crowds would have driven him crazy.

 It was the one free day a year at the zoo. We had never been there before, so we thought this would be a great way to get a peek at this zoo. Everyone else in Baltimore had the same idea. We inched through traffic and hiked through crowds, and we caught a glimpse of the animals.

The girls did not seem to mind the press, though at one point I had to carry one little girl on my back and one in front to keep them from being trampled by the mammoth strollers. I saw a lot more people than animals, but we did enjoy seeing real zebras and rhinos. The monkey house was pretty neat, and the girls squealed when the lemurs hopped from branch to branch.

Our public school friends started last week. We will be making the most of summer for another week, I think. I do find it useful to ease the girls back into school after vacations of any length, so we are doing a bit of spelling and math review, but I let them have more freedom to choose what to do when.
Sapphire is bouncing along with her phonics and numbers.

On Saturday we had a nice time catching up at a family reunion. The girls did not want to leave, but we also wanted to pop by my husband's 20 year high school reunion picnic. He enjoyed catching up with folks. I enjoyed the scenery.