A Zoo-per Zoo Day

After a super windy and cold week (OK, cold by Southern California standards), we decided to take advantage of the 70 degree weather and visit our favorite spot on Saturday morning...you guessed it: The L.A. Zoo! Tutu, Sir and Auntie Da joined us for the fun.

Our first stop was to visit Reggie, that naughty alligator that spent time "vacationing" in a Long Beach park creek before being caught by a crocodile hunter and coming to stay permanently in our zoo. This is the best look we've ever gotten of the elusive Reggie.

Daddy and I decided to wave.

We also love the meerkats. They were quite lively this morning so Mommy, Tutu and I posed in front of them.

Look at those cuties, will ya!

Then Auntie Da and I enjoyed the flamingos. Mommy says they stink a bit too much for her tastes. But they sure are pretty!

Then we started to see these wonderful elephant statues, hand painted by local artists, on the paths throughout the zoo. I think that new elephant exhibit is just around the corner...

Hurray! We've been waiting years for this moment!

We soon realized that the elephants can be viewed from three different points in the zoo. All we could see at this spot was elephant tushie. And VERY far away, I might add. So we moved on...

We cut through South America on our way to see some of the cold weather animals enjoying Snow Days. They put "snow" in some of the exhibits and us visitors get to see the animals play in it. Along the way, we saw three very big tortoises. Auntie Da had to hold me up to see them.

Wow, cool!

I'm so glad Auntie Da was here to play with me. She's the best!

Then we saw a few more elephant statues. This one was particularly beautiful.

So we had to take a picture in front of it.

After a few snow-filled exhibits with hiding animals, we finally hit the jackpot! The tigers were loving the snow. They were even licking these ice blocks, which the volunteers told us have tiger treats inside. This is the most active we have ever seen the tigers. What a treat!

Here are Tutu, Sir and I checking out the tigers. Awesome!

This one even stopped to take a drink.

What a beauty!

Sir even put me on his shoulders so I could get an even better view of the tigers. Thanks, Sir!

Then we saw these lovely monkeys. This one was sitting on the top of the tree.

Auntie Da tried to point him out to me but the sun was too bright. Whew!

Our second amazing snow sighting was this gorgeous black bear. He was having a ball at the top of his hill.

Wow, Daddy, that is a BIG bear!

Another first at the zoo...we saw the hippo out of the water. And we got a really good look at him and boy is he a big boy! Did you know that hippos can't swim? If they need to get across a pond or lake they take a deep breath and walk on the bottom. Neat!

And much to our chagrin, our rhino friend has still not grown his horn back. I don't know about you but I think that volunteer was fibbing when she told us it would grow back like our finger nails. We shall see...

Off to the next exhibit...Wheeee!

Oh, boy, the chimps! I love these guys.

We stood and watched them for quite a while.

Then we all took a load off and watched from the observation seats.

I ran up and down the stairs until Daddy caught me. Foiled, again!

Then we saw Mommy's favorite animals...the giraffes! Our zoo has several giraffe beauties, including a few babies. This one was munching on some leaves.

Amazing!

Then we FINALLY reached the other side of the elephant exhibit. It's about time!

So we went in to see their new digs.

There were two lovely elephants near by eating and throwing grass on their backs.

They look so happy in their new home.

Here I am with Tutu taking it all in. This was my first time seeing live elephants since the exhibit has been under construction since I was born.

I was so happy. Mommy tried to get me to make some elephant sounds but I just smiled.

Then Daddy persuaded me. Here's my best elephant impression. What a ham!

Then I started to get tired so I decided to ride in my stroller for the rest of the day.

After the elephants, we saw some lovely oragutans. This one was eating it's lunch.

Then we saw the gorillas. They were eating lunch, too.

All this animal lunch eating gave us a good idea. So we ate lunch, too. I had oranges, hot dogs and a cowboy hat sandwich. Yummy!

After lunch, we made a quick stop in the aviary and saw this lovely bird.

And this one, too.

Finally, we stopped on the way to the exit to see if the koalas were active and they were! This guy was standing on his hinds legs reaching for leaves to eat.

Mommy says it's pretty rare to see them awake during the day so we were thrilled to see these two guys active and eating in the middle of the day. Cool, huh?

All good things have to come to and end. I, of course, fell asleep on the way to the car.

And slept all the way home.

What a great day at the zoo, huh? Thanks, Tutu, Sir and Auntie Da for sharing in the fun!