Spring Break 2013 Staycation

We were planning to go to the farm for spring break to explore the fishing.  But unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate.  It was going to be cold with snow.  So we decided to do a staycation.  The weather was pretty bad for us at home too.  But we did manage a couple outing.  We went out on a nice afternoon to the Brookfield Zoo.

Something clearly has the attention of these meerkats.

Penguins are always fun to see.

The family by the Andean Condor enclosure. 

The condor clear has a bigger wingspan than Diane.

Looks like Alex has the same wingspan as a Bald Eagle.

The boys had a lot of fun.

We had a great visit to the Zoo.

We also went to the Museum of Science and Industry.  Diane had fun with the big Tesla lightening ball.

I beat Diane in the mind relaxation game.  Took a Zen approach.

The exhibits are lots of fun.

Everyone had a great time.  Chicago is such a great city. Lots of convenient and fun things to do on a stay cation.

Happy Birthday Bart

Singapore

Had to go to Singapore for a US-Japan meeting.  The Harbor is very cool. 

Thats the MerLion over my shoulder.  It was very humid.

That building really catches the eye.  What a cool landmark.

We went to the Singapore Zoo.  It was outstanding!

The hippo exhibit was very fun.

But the best thing was an enclosure called rain forest encounter.  Extraordinary!

It was full of friendly Lemurs.  They were like cats.

There was a platform into the trees that was full of flying foxes, birds, and a three-toed sloth.

They were fighting over some fruit that had just been passed out.

The flying foxes were amazing.  Giant Bats.  At one point one tried to land on my arm when I was taking pictures.

This sloth was about 2 feet away.  Unfortunately it was cloudy leading to the picture being blurry.

You can really see why they are called flying foxes in this picture.

We saw a second sloth as we climbed down from the perch.

The meeting ended and we had a free late afternoon.  Even though it was raining, we headed to the botanical park and the Singapore National Orchid Garden.  Breathtaking!  The following pictures speak for themselves.