A Day Off With Frederick

Frederick has this week off from school for Spring break. Ordinarily, that would be exciting but given that he has had only two uninterrupted weeks of school since January 6th, more days off just seems run of the mill. It couldn't be worse for Simon and me, given that our semester is nearing the end and on Mondays and Wednesdays we teach at the same time. We managed Monday with help but I had to cancel my class for today--so, more days off for THOSE kids which made life harder for THEIR parents. (Tough luck, say I.) I asked Frederick what he wanted to do today, since it was actually a really nice day--about 50 degrees F and sunny. Of course he said that he wanted to go to ForMar--and did we ever! First, we had to run at top speed the whole way, and he toured me about, taking me off the beaten track, round and around to see every single thing. (Mainly signs.) Then we had to go to Sloan Museum to see SPACE! (Which will be there only until May 4th, so he better get filled up on it.) I insisted we head home after that to tank up on pizza, which he agreed to. He ate his pizza while lying down on the couch watching a show. THEN we headed to East Lansing to go to Potter Park. Here is proof:

The place was packed with mothers each surrounded by 3 or 4 small, screeching children who spent the whole time shrieking at the animals, or darting about wildly, or laying on the ground having a fit about something or other. The animals (particularly the lions) looked very annoyed (and sleepy). They have a program that allows you to go to the zoo at night, after sundown, to see and hear the animals who are nocturnal. They said that feeding time is quite noisy and can be heard for quite a distance outside the park. Maybe that is what we will do next, when the 2 foot tall children are safely elsewhere.