I sure wish we got to go along! They got to admire some cool animals!
Alligators of various sizes:
Desert-dwelling tortoise:
In the darkened reptile room, Mom failed to take any photos of snakes. They just aren't her thing. There was a little corn snake that was kind of cute, but it was hiding in its house. ;^) She did take a few shots of lizards, though - they even seemed to be posing!
Pygmy Goats:
The kids were sleeping - either chilling in the shade or sunbathing.
Some of the adults were hanging out by the fence in case there were treats.
This goat was Mom's favorite.
This one seemed to think it was king or queen of the goats. It never left the platform.
A cute young antelope of some kind. There was no sign.
Such a show off!
Rainbow birds! Mom can't remember what species they are.
Prairie Dogs!
Wildebeest!
He or she was really sweet! It allowed our aunt to pet it, and she said its body and mane feel like a horse's. <3
Giraffes. They're so tall it's ridiculous.
Lounging kangaroo
Some sort of Indian antelope. They look like they're wearing striped socks.
The three flamingos who didn't get the pink memo. New arrivals who haven't been eating the same food, perhaps?
A rather tubby wallaby:
Park visitors are allowed to enter a large enclosure with a bunch of parakeets inside, which Mom and her sisters eagerly did. The parakeets will happily land on your finger if you purchase a stick covered in birdseed for them to eat.
The parakeets came in a range of vibrant shades of green, yellow, and blue.
This one liked Mom's shoe!
Fortunately, nobody was pooped on or bitten while hanging out in here!
The last thing Mom and family did was take a bus ride to see some of the far-flung animal enclosures. Mom was frequently not on the right side of the bus for getting good views, but at least she got to see these resting watusi cattle up close!
This antelope of some kind (there are too many to keep them straight!) seemed quite happy to have its photo taken too.
The zebras were less photogenic. Not only were they on the wrong side of the bus for Mom to see them well, but upon the bus's approach, they all headed into the shelter. XD Mom says she doesn't blame them - there were approximately 20 loud children under the age of 5 on the bus. Mom managed to take this photo of the last one right before it disappeared from view.
Despite this rather anticlimactic ending to their visit, everybody had a great time. Never fear, there will be more equines in this post.
Back at home, Mom and her sister both opened their piles of presents. (Her sister's birthday is about a week before Mom's, and for various reasons, it made sense to celebrate together this year.) Here are Mom's:
- 3 new pajama shirts (isn't the one in the middle perfect? XD)
- 3 new plain t-shirts (to be worn while exercising)
- 2 TY critters that Mom asked for in honor of the 2 times she's won the family NCAA basketball pool: Rameses the ram (yay Tarheels!) and Mukluk the husky (yay Huskies!)
- penguin socks (who wouldn't want these?)
- dog-themed cross-stitch kit (Sorry Nala, no Pit Bulls)
- The Chemist (far-fetched, yes, but an enjoyable read)
- elephant pajama pants (to be worn with the animal selfie t-shirt, obviously)
Perhaps the best present of all was this little guy:
Mom's sister brought him back for Mom from her recent semester in Latin America.
He joins this mosaic horse, which her other sister brought her after her trip to Spain.
If these guys could talk, I bet it would be in Spanish! =)
As usual, HI2's happy birthday alert didn't come through until the day after Mom's birthday. *Sighs*
The only other HI2-related news I have is that Juliet and Julie recently caught an especially cute Datong:
...and he's a curmudgeon. Somehow that makes him even cuter in my mind. I was tempted to ask if we could retire him to our Millennium Fields, but then I remembered we recently retired Granite, that rose gray Shagya with the hodge-podge avatar. One cool deep rose gray is enough for now. :^)
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