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Day 5 of birthday week is looking up a little.

Danny is still feeling ill, but Skylar is feeling better! The sky is looking gray and there is some lightning, so swimming lessons are cancelled. We needed an excuse to sleep in anyway. : )

The girls and I decided to go to Blank Park Zoo after the skies cleared after lunch, then do a little mall time. Skylar's favorite at the zoo was the new mine. We bought a bag of rock and strained it through the water trough they built to discover real gemstones. She got several big stones, and had fun showing them off and admiring them.

Eliza's favorite was the tiger. This was the first time I have been to the zoo with the girls and stood and watched an animal for a significant amount of time. Usually we buzz by, snap a photo, and keep moving. Well, this time Eliza was mesmerized. The tiger was pacing back and forth in him enclosure and moved really close to the glass on each pass. When she was finally ready to move on the tiger stopped and looked right at us. It was actually a little creepy.

My favorite was the giraffes. There were 3 giraffes, and we were the only patrons watching them when we first arrived. The largest one moved toward us from the far back of his habitat and sort of watched us. Next thing we know the other 2 were moving close as well. We watched them eat grass, try to step over sticks in their way, and interact with each other. It was pretty interesting to see, since I normally only see one giraffe sort of standing there quietly when we visit the zoo.

We headed to the mall after the zoo for a new purse for myself. The Gift Certificate I received from Dad was burning a hole in my pocket. I also promised the girls they could play in the play area and have a pretzel. These are both treats since I am usually so rushed at the mall that I say no to both. Such a mean mom... We ended up buying a few new school outfits and shoes also, so it was a pretty enjoyable girl's day.