Escape from Northfield: A Visit to the Minnesota Zoo—Part 2

I've always enjoyed having a summer birthday. The weather is generally nice, I have more freedom to plan around a birthday and, if I choose, I can just sit in my house and do nothing in the comfort of air conditioning. 

Without a doubt, there are some downfalls, though. My birthday was never celebrated in school—some teachers tried the misguided "half birthday" celebration, but it just wasn't the same.

My birthday, the last day of June, is overshadowed by the Fourth of July. I use the word overshadowed not because I care that I'm not the center of attention (I really, really don't), but having a birthday so close to a national holiday has always sucked when trying to take time off of work. Because of this, I've worked most of my birthday since I was 15. And that's not such a big deal for me. My birthday, for the most part, is just another day to me. If I "celebrate" it the day before or after, that's fine.

And that's even more true now that I have a daughter. My birthday matters very little. So that's what we did this year— we "celebrated" by spending time together doing something we usually don't get to do.

My birthday was Saturday. So I took Thursday and Friday off and my wife, Ariel, 5-month-old daugther, Lucy, and I visited the Minnesota Zoo for the second time since buying a membership in May. We also visited the Minnesota History Center, which was a great. It was relaxing. Then, on my actual birthday, we more or less didn't do anything. Nothing specifically for me, at least. And that was fine.

I had much more fun Thursday and Friday when it was just the three of us taking in some Minnesota offerings. These moments are far more important than any day set aside for me to celebrate myself. 

And, because folks liked the photos from our last Minnesota Zoo visit so much, I thought it would be prudent for me to share a few more.

Enjoy!