A Day at the Zoo

Last week, we headed to Oceanside, California for a four day vacation. We drove in Wednesday night after work and arrived at our condo around 9:00 pm. The condo was right on the beach and so beautiful. Thank you to the Santos for letting us stay there! It was the perfect space, and we loved sitting out on the patio at night listening to the waves roll in.

Thursday morning, we got up and got ready while simultaneously admiring our view. We decided to head to San Diego to spend the day at the zoo. (Side Note: I got these outfits for the girls thinking that we'd go to the zoo last spring. Luckily, they still fit and it was warm enough, because they got so many compliments on how adorable they looked.)

When we got there, a sweet older couple gave us their four guest passes that were expiring the following day. We were able to get in for free, which saved us $180. Our day was already starting off great.

When we got inside, we grabbed a bite to eat at the Safari Kitchen. While we were sitting at the table eating, Grace saw some ants on the ground and had a major freak out moment. This girl is terrified of bugs. We ate as fast as we could and went over to the flamingos to calm her down. Charley was mesmerized and loved the fact that they were all pink. She kept standing on one leg and saying, "why do caminogos like to do that?". 

We moved on to the little monkies, and there was this one with crazy hair that just kept staring at us.

The first hippo we saw was napping. They are one of my favorites to see at the zoo, because they're so cool looking.

Perry woke up from a nap and hung out with Daddy, while we admired the adorable hippo.

Next up was the gorillas. They are so fascinating, and I could just stay there and watch them all day long.

The baby that we saw nursing last year was now two and super rambunctious. He followed his mom around, bugging her, and all she wanted to do was lay down and scratch her belly.

Char watched him play with and chew on his feet and couldn't get over how "his feet look like hands".

We saw the tiger next, and he was napping in the shade.

There were two more hippos as we walked around the path. Last year, we got to watch the momma teaching her baby how to swim. This year, they were hanging out right in front of the glass, and Gracie loved them.

The girls checked out the pelicans, while I fed Perry her lunch. The birds kept spreading their wings, which was awesome to watch.

We saw a snow leopard with the prettiest eyes. It was pretty hot, so she mostly just hung out in the shade.

As we walked around the polar rim towards the polar bears, we passed the zebras. 

We finally made it up this huge hill (pushing the stroller up it was NOT fun) to the polar bear area, and the girls couldn't get enough.

He was eating fish and kept putting his head under water to grab another.

This is his NFG face. He just went under water, grabbed a fish, ate it up, and then shook the water off. All.day.long.

Daddy cooled Perr off, while we admired the giant bear that I really wanted to hug.

This one of him shaking is one of my most favorite pictures of the day.

On the way back down the hill, we crossed paths with the elephants.

This is an elephant collar for size reference. It was huge!

We also saw some camels and a wolf that Char wanted to take home. He was in the shadows, so I didn't get a picture of him.

The koala bears may have taken my favorite animal award. The baby hanging on the branch was adorable. They didn't move, and they didn't look real at all. I remember thinking Perry looked like a koala bear hanging on to me when she was just a week old. So sweet!

Char had to take a picture with the Hawaiian garden, because she wants to be a "Hawaiiya" when she grows up.

Daddy spoiled the girls with new animals when we left. We stopped in one store, and they picked out these guys. Then we passed the Kids Store, so he let them pick out another toy. He kept putting this big stuffed koala bear on Perry, and she would rub her face on it. I found a smaller one, so he bought it for her, and she squealed while squeezing it the whole way home.

We always have a blast at the zoo. I think I like watching the animals just as much as the kids do. It's so fun to see these big animals and admire their beauty.