I've officially entered the last year of my 30s. To ease the pain and utter disbelief, Cammy came to visit! I hadn't made any big plans because I wasn't sure what Cammy would feel like doing, though I knew for sure that a big Mexican dinner would be involved! We had already planned to take our Christmas card photo on Saturday morning, so we decided that since the afternoon was free we'd go to the zoo. We haven't been yet, and the temperatures dipped down into the high 50s and low 60s, so the day was perfect.
First stop was the giraffes - they were chasing the ostrichs away from the snacks the trainers were handing out! Once the lettuce leaves ran out, they begrudgingly hung out with each other.
Barrett loved these longhorns...
The reptile house was fantastic, and we met the Anegada Island Iguana, whose slight smile just tickled me.
This Meller's chameleon reminded me of the cranky old chameleon from the movie "Sing!"
The Komodo dragon, just napping and peeking out at the gawkers...
There is a central koi pond, with jack o'lantern buckets hanging from the trees. This place was so serene and would make the perfect place for family portraits.
The hubs jokingly claimed to need to see this animal - the tapir, solely because he wanted to keep saying the word "tapir"! We found them snoozing in a huddle.
Next door to them were these giant rats. I had flashbacks of the rodents of unusual size in the fire swamp in "The Princess Bride." They gave me the willies, and I moved on pretty quickly!
My favorite animal - the Asian elephant. Elephants never disappoint, and this one was just chowing down, meandering around the pen.
This cougar, the University of Houston mascot Shasta, was snoozing away, when he spied his trainer, who was standing next to us outside the enclosure. He started stalking her, and she explained that he thought she had treats for him! She said the treats are goats milk and horse meat, because it's lean.
Can one ever tire of the gentle meerkat? That simple standing pose, hands resting on the belly, and constant vigilance for any threat. I love these meerkats. One meerkat had only three legs - the zoo keeper said he had injured a leg and it didn't heal correctly. The meerkat didn't seem to notice, as he got around very well!
Even though we were tired from trekking around the zoo for hours, we went to dinner at Uncle Julio's because I require Mexican food on my birthday! Plus, Cammy hadn't had Mexican food and it is a must in Texas. We came home afterwards for singing and cake - I'm not a "celebration at the restaurant" kind of person! A beautiful day, with my family, made ringing in "39" a bit better!
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