Yesterday, Layla and I had a girls day with Grandma, Emilee, and Abigail at the zoo. It was so much fun! We have annual passes to Busch Gardens, but the zoo had some animals that Busch Gardens doesn’t have. Like the sloth bear. I don’t have a picture of it (its hard to stay on top of photography when my sister is a professional), but it was the oddest thing. Its face looked like a dog and it was skinny and fluffy. We also saw orangutans which were busying themselves with Food and Wine magazine and staying shaded with towels. I think they (the zoo) were pushing the whole evolving idea.

We also saw this eel, and the funny little puffer fish hiding beneath it. I guess it figured if it was under the eel, it couldn’t get eaten.

 I felt sorry for this gorgeous bald eagle, which was injured in the wild and couldn’t fly. I was a treat to be able to see him up close, though.

Another treat at the Lowry Park Zoo is the up close animal encounters. Had we had cash on us, we would’ve fed this huge giraffe. They also had camel rides, which is where I was really feeling regret for being so anti cash, because I would have so loved to ride one with Layla Grace. She did get to conduct the train with Abigail as the passenger, and she seems to quite enjoy that.

Up next was the petting zoo, filled with goats and a llama. We didn’t get close to the llama because he was eating and I did not want to be spat upon. Layla did seem a bit confused by the goats. First, why did they have horns? Second, why wouldn’t they shake her hand like Olivia? Third, why didn’t they seem interested in eating the hay from her hands like Walter (Emilee’s guinea pig)? And last, why wasn’t she allowed to sit on them like she does with Buddy (Emilee’s dog)? It was funny for sure. I didn’t have my camera with me at the time, so unfortunately I don’t have any shots of her!

These little guys were one of my favorite animals. They’re tiny asian deer about the size of Olivia. I wanted to get three or four and put them in the back yard and just watch them. Aren’t they cute?

The gopher tortoises are something we see everyday here in Florida. But what I don’t see every day is a whole herd of them, with a couple of them trying to bite off each other’s heads.

This was a cool looking animal, despite the fact that it wouldn’t lift its head and that there was no sign letting me know what it even was.

And here’s post trip shot. This only lasted about 10 minutes.

Hope you enjoy your night!

-Mere

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