Escape from Northfield: A Visit to the Minnesota Zoo

Northfield has a lot to offer and I'm ecstatic to be a family man in this river town.

What it doesn't have is a zoo (feel free to share your jokes in the comment section).

With a few days off recently, my wife, Ariel, and 3-1/2-month-old daughter, , visited the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley.

I love the Minnesota Zoo. I grew up in the Apple Valley area and attended the School of Environmental Studies, a school for juniors and seniors that is on the campus of the zoo (though the school operates on its own and isn't directly tied to the zoo). Through my studies there, I was afforded ample opportunity to visit the zoo and study the animals. 

Now, at 26, I haven't had much opportunity to go to the zoo. I've visited the zoo (and the Como Zoo) a few times with friends and my wife, but my visits haven't had purpose.

Now these visits will have purpose.

I'm stoked to be a dad. Though Lucy won't remember her first visit to the zoo, I will. I will remember many firsts that she'll never recall. She'll hear about them through my retelling and will see photographic evidence of this beautiful baby hanging out in Discovery Bay and wherever else our family adventures take us. 

I can't wait.

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