An Evening at the Zoo

I am a member of the largest church in Grand Rapids, MI. Each Summer, my church plans and holds a special event for the families in our church; a time for us to come together as a church and as families. This year the church rented John Ball Zoo, so from 6pm to 9pm thousands of people ate together (hot dogs were provided), enjoyed music in the band shell and the opportunity to see the many animals in the zoo.

I noticed something as families ate together, and walked through the zoo - many, many of these families included grandparents who were enjoying the opportunity to experience the zoo with their grandchildren. I was one such grandparent, because my grandsons were at this event with me.

My grandsons loved our evening at the zoo! They especially enjoyed the petting zoo, the budgie house (Caleb loved getting a parakeet to land on his Popsicle stick) and the bears - when the grizzly walked right by the window where Caleb was standing, he was shocked to see how large the bear actually is! While my grandsons enjoyed seeing and actually touching many of these animals, I loved seeing the smiles and wide-eye amazement on the faces of my three, sweet rascals! 

Whether your church hosts a night at the zoo, or you take your grandchildren to the zoo . . . or you plan for a fun evening at home, opportunities to spend time with your grandchildren build memories and strengthen your family - we most certainly did some building and strengthening last evening!