On Saturday, we decided to go to the zoo.  Emily had an early basketball game at the rec center, and we came home, messed around, ate lunch, and were off!  While we try to avoid the Free Day like the plague, since it is always ever so crowded, we just happened to have chosen that particular day to visit.  It saved us $28 dollars, so well worth the free fun afternoon.

We arrived around 2:15, and found that, with the nice weather in the 40s, the animals were all out and active.  Well, maybe not ACTIVE.  More like waiting for their keepers at the doors to their enclosures to feed them.  We saw many animals that normally are not out and about when we visit—the arctic foxes and the wolves being ones I have never seen in 10 years of visits to the zoo.

The baby zebras were out and we witnessed 2 of them nursing, then running around on those long skinny legs playing.  The polar bears were quite playful too.  Their swimming hole had a lot of ice on top, so we witnessed the polar bears swimming under the ice and coming out on the ice.  We could see their black skin underneath their white fur.  One of the largest came over to the glass where we were standing and “itched” himself on it.  Very cool.

As always, a trip to the zoo is not complete without a trip to the pacaderm house.  And this time, we learned an extremely interesting fact about the Tapir.  They can shoot poop at least 10 feet.  I kid you not.  Thankfully, we were not the “lucky” recipients of the pooh in the face, but Emily was RIGHT NEXT TO THE CHILD.  We learned first hand why its not a good idea to lick the guard rails(as many children are liken to do).

I wonder if it is a defense mechanism of the Tapir, or for his own private amusement?

In an afternoon, as a lesson in electronics and building, Emily and I built a small robot. Although it has a small rechargable battery, the robot is based on ideas of BEAM robotics, which combine simple electronics with simple locomotion to produce insect-level behavior. This robot uses two photodiodes as eyes, and vigorously seeks out the brightest light source in a darkened room.

In order to make life easier, we used a kit for the robot that included directions, all parts and a pre-printed circuit board. Emily was able to solder all the joints herself, with me only needing to do some cleanup after the project was done.

You could tell that she was astonished when we charged it up, and it actually worked! Besides the discussions about basic electronics, it was a great way for Emily to learn how to follow written directions, and match parts to a schematic. See the rest of the pictures here.

We had plans to go to the zoo today, but unfortunately it was closed for a memorial service. We opted to go to the Nature and Science Museum next store, as we always enjoy a visit to the DMNS.

The Titanic Exhibit was pretty full, so I opted for tickets to the planetarium show “The Cosmic Journey”. It was a 22 minute show that can be summed up as a trip thru our solar system with brief stops at each of the planets.

The planetarium itself is beautiful. The stadium seats are extremely comfortable and the screen is huge. Besides 2 other patrons, our family was the only one in the theater (that is the beauty of attending in the afternoon—school groups are gone!). After some technical difficulties at the beginning of the program, we were set. The picture was crisp and the animation of the planets was spectacular! Their “camera work” fooled your mind into thinking your body was in motion–it was extremely cute listening to the girls ask how the chairs were moving.

Camille and Emily both listened to the narration and seemed to really absorb what was being said.

But my favorite part was when Camille grabbed my arm halfway through the movie, looked up at me with her big brown eyes, and asked “Mommy, are we REALLY in space?”