Yay?
...Not really. Instead, as a beleted birthday present, I got to go to the San Diego Zoo! The trip did not take too long (no traffic on the weekends!), so we got to the zoo almost as soon as they opened.
He roped his buddy into the picture. He was confused, but still smiled (sorta) nicely.
The first thing we did was go on the bus tour. On the tour, we heard the lions, saw the snow leopard, watched the elephants chase each other, and took pictures of a two-week-old giraffe. Unfortunately, none of my pictures came out really well. Fortunately, the lady who took our tickets was very nice. She was also photographic.
Whee!
Actually, one photo from the tour came out fairly well.
Man eats popcorn, bear eats man, mosasaur eats bear, woman inherits the earth.
We then went to the Reptile House before it got too crowded. Mrs. Naval liked seeing the animals (behind the glass). Actually, some of the snakes, like this mamba, looked rather pretty.
Yah know, people say mosasaurs were closely related to snakes.
I'm still not seeing it.
After the adventures with the reptiles, we had a plan. A plan that involved this window.
Ya'll come back now, ya hear?
Once we finished at the window, we had to kill some time, so we visited the rhinos.
Sleepy...
We then waited in a very, very long line. A long line to feed the giraffes! We gave them biscuits, and they licked them out of our hands. Their tongues were long, flexible, and dark, but also warm and wet, like a dog's.
I accidentally cut off his tongue in the picture.
The big male's name is Silver, and the smaller female is called Harriet.
Maybe I should have washed the pepper off my hands
Of course, no visit to the zoo is complete without seeing some animal babies. Besides the previously mentioned giraffe, we saw a baby hippo, gazelle, warthogs, and takin. Takin are one of China's national treasures. The animals look like a goat, musk ox, and cow hybrid as adults, but the little ones look like a bear-goat.
Cuuuuute!
Throughout the day, we became convinced that Mr. Naval had the touch, since the animals that usually hide stayed visible whenever he came near. Such animals included the snow leopard, mountain lions, black jaguar, and caribou.
Cariwho?
The conventional leopard also trekked around the exhibit. She seemed very interested in the people watching her.
Is she going to eat us?
Fortunately, we had our own predator to protect us.
You'd better run!
Fortunately, we found some friendlier creatures nearby.
Just hangin' out
Still, a predator is a predator, and the other animals seemed aware of this.
Look at me and fear, all ye meerkats!
Of course, there will always be another predator. Jerome still won.
And stay down!
We also found an absolutely enormous hybiscus.
Seriously, have you ever seen a blossom this big?
On the way back to the car, we noticed something very strange. Each of the rows in the parking lot had an animal and a letter. Yet, the letter had nothing to do with the animal. The letters and animals did not change further down the row, so each letter stayed with its animal.
"A" for..."panda"?
Anyway, we all felt tired and ready to leave.
We're going...
...to dinner!
The Navals took me to I Luv Sushi, one of their favorite restaurants. We all ate too much of the very, very good food. So, with full bellies and sore legs (the proof of a day well spent) we went home.
Until next time, peace out my ninjas!
