A Sunny, Funny Day at the Fort Wayne Zoo

Sunday was the last "official" day of 2010 Zoo Season at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo.  It was also a gorgeous day, sunny and warm.  You can't tell in this picture, but Peyton is wearing Allison's old shirt that says, "I'm the Big Sister".  NO, SHE IS NOT GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER.  She just loves the shirt because it has a princess on it and because it was Ally's.  The girls love to climb in the cracked eggs.    

My two cuties, Peyton and Ally sitting on a frog.

The kangaroos in the Australian Adventure were very active.  They were jumping all over the place, across the path in front of us.  This guy happened to stay still long enough for me to snap a pic.  Thank you, Mr. Kangaroo!

The girls each wanted to do something different for an activity at the zoo.  Darren took Ally to ride a pony named Trish.  I took Peyton on the Sky Safari, or as she repeatedly told me, "it's the sky ride!"

A view from the Sky Safari of the African Journey.

Our final stop was to see the giraffes.  There were a lot of people waiting to feed them, but they must not have been too hungry.  Darren and Ally got impatient and continued to the drums while Peyton and I stayed by the giraffes.  Eventually they moved closer to the feeding station and we saw a few up close.

A Quick Trip to Napa

On September 29-October 2 I had the opportunity to visit beautiful American Canyon, California for a Leadership Summit for work.  I headed out after a full day of work on Wednesday, leaving at 7:40 pm.  After a layover in Chicago, arriving in Sacramento, picking up the rental car and driving about an hour to American Canyon, I finally got to sleep around 4:30 am Indiana time.  Whew!  I was exhausted, but excited to be in California.  The next two days were packed with workshops and networking with the wonderful people associated with the New Tech Network.  I cannot believe how fortunate I am to get to work with these outstanding educators!  Our conference was held at the new American Canyon HS and we also got to visit the newly renovated Napa New Technology High School.  Both are amazing facilities with innovative educational practices occurring at them.

As it happens, a friend from high school lives not far from Napa.  We were able to get together and he served as our tour guide for Friday evening.  We visited a two wineries and a neat Spanish Tapas restaurant called Zuzu in downtown Napa.  It was a fun evening with friends and colleagues.

The entrance to Mumm.

Mike Yurkus (friend from high school) and Me

Red, White & Blue Sparkling Wine Sampler at Mumm

Next stop was Castello di Amorosa.  Supposedly there was an episode of The Bachelor filmed here.  I wouldn't know though, I don't watch The Bachelor.  Either way, it was a cool place.

New Tech Colleagues from NE Indiana...Eva, Me, & Sean

 Statue of a gargoyle 

Vineyard

Beautiful view of Napa Valley

After a few busy and fun-filled days, it was time to head back to the Hoosier State.  Got up at 3:30am to head to the airport in Sacramento.  Once again, I had a layover in Chicago.  I literally ran through O'Hare to make my connection and got seated on the plane only 6 minutes prior to my scheduled take-off.  Needless to say, I was not surprised when I made it to Fort Wayne, but my bag that they made me gate check in Sac was still in Chicago.  Thankfully, my bag was delivered to my house about 6 hours later.  

It was a great trip, not nearly long enough to truly enjoy all Napa has to offer, but I guess that just means I'll need to go back...