Lions and tigers and bees--oh my!

My weekend: pulling a giant bee balloon through downtown Fort Wayne and hanging with the orangutans and a baby giraffe. It's not a typical scene in Indiana, but Fort Wayne definitely delivered in the adventure department this weekend!

Colors hits the Three Rivers Festival parade!

On Saturday, I was part of the "bee" colorful Vera Bradley group for the Three Rivers Festival parade. We had quite a lineup: a girls' dance team, people passing out Vera Bradley goodies, the Queen Bee balloon, Majic 95.1 FM, and the fabulous folks from the Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis.

Interns Tiffany, Megan, and Karen with Foundation Events Coordinator Lynda and her daughter, Tori.

The Queen Bee is in flight!
(For a full picture of the bee, check out this picture from a previous parade year--I couldn't get a good shot since I was always under it!)

Tethering was a lot harder than I thought it would be! We practiced our "elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist" wave beforehand, but once someone pulled out the gloves for those tethering, I knew my hopes of dazzling waves were gone. Downtown Fort Wayne has a lot of low wires and traffic lights that require special attention when maneuvering a giant balloon! The crowd was great--they warned us of our obstacles and cheered when we made it through.

Our bit of trouble, a tangle in a traffic light, left the crowd on the edge of their lawn chairs. Foundation intern Karen and I ended up getting our lines chopped and thought we were going to get to use our waves until we quickly had to re-grab our lines! Of course, we planned it all for the dramatic effect :)

Karen and Megan, already tethered on the balloon.

On Sunday, I left behind the urban jungle of Fort Wayne and entered the real jungle with my aunt and cousins. They drove up from Zionsville, Indiana, and were excited to check out the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo... and visit me!

Caroline and I are animals at heart!

I can't remember the last time I have been to any zoo, so it was definitely time for a visit. We packed a lunch and were able to catch an otter feeding and an animal show--featuring a goat with a craving for my cousin Michael's zoo map!

One of my favorites, the giraffes.

Bill the lion: taking a catnap in one of the few shaded areas in the African Journey.

It was a great visit and didn't start getting too hot until we hit the African area--which was Fort Wayne's answer to the Sahara Desert! It was the perfect setting for the zebras, wildebeasts, and leopards, but not for four sweaty visitors.

We decided to hightail it to some air conditioning and headed to Jefferson Pointe. My cousin Caroline is a huge fan and she couldn't wait to see the Vera Bradley store. I'm not one to pass up a trip to the Jefferson Pointe store so I was happy to lead the way! (it may or may not have been my 3rd visit to the store in 4 days...)

One very happy girl!

The weekend ended with a delicious trip to Zesto ice cream and a walk around the University of Saint Francis. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend: fun, family, and fro-yo!

Michael giving a thumbs up for candy--and color!