Mother's Day with the animals at the Racine Zoo

By Phyllis Sides

Monday, May 14, 2007 2:14 AM CDT

Journal Times

RACINE - Families from across the region came to the Racine Zoo Sunday to celebrate Mother's Day among the animals. The Elloians from Gurnee, Ill., the Kurklis family from Kenosha and the Ampes from Yorkville were among the visitors.

For Debra Ampe it was a multi-generational celebration. Ampe celebrated with her three daughters, three grandchildren, a grandchild-in-waiting, her sons-in-law and the mother of one of her sons-in-law. "We always get together, usually we go to brunch but we thought we'd do something a little easier this year," Ampe said, a grandchild balanced on her lap.

Ampe's daughter, Jamie Rosenquist, said they came to the zoo because the family let her sister, Jackie Ibarra, choose the gathering place. "We let her choose because she has three kids," Rosenquist said. "She wanted to have a picnic at the zoo."

Ibarra said, she chose the zoo because her son, Eric, wanted to come. They had come another day but the zoo had closed already.

Thinking of memorable Mother's Days, Ampe said, "The most memorable is the year you're first a mother. You've kind of made the transition from being carefree to being responsible."

Sunday also was a day to continue traditions for the Elloians and their three children. "They usually bring me breakfast in bed and I get to choose our outing," Maria Elloian said. And though Sunday was her husband Malcolm's birthday, she still got to choose because it was Mother's Day. They came to Racine because of the zoo, Maria said. "It's a nice afternoon outing. It's closer than Milwaukee or the Brookfield Zoo."

For Brenda Kurklis, spending Mother's Day at the zoo was a chance to catch up with the changes being made there. "We tend to come here quite often," Kurklis said as she and husband Dave and daughter Emily watched a group of turtles swim and sun themselves. Brenda couldn't immediately think of a memorable Mother's Day - only that they've changed quite a bit. "A lot have been based around our parents, but we lost them," Brenda said, "except for his mother."

Dave said his mother lives in Ohio. "We called her this morning and gave her a special Mother's Day present."

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