Zoo pics and more

Now that I'm getting back into the swing of blogging, I thought I'd post some pictures from my trip down to San Diego with my friend, Q. I {heart} San Diego! There's so much to do and so much to see. I could do without all the traffic, but that's the way of life around here.

While down in SD, Q and I visited one of my all-time favorite stores - The Container Store. For an organizational freak like myself, this place is my heaven.


I could have spent hours in here just looking around, but we had another mission to accomplish...

The San Diego Zoo!

The SD Zoo was certainly one of the highlights of our vacation. The weather was mild, and all the animals were out and about doing their thing. Many of them had babies to show off to us. We saw baby tigers, warthogs, and giraffes, as well as singing dog pups and even a 15 month old panda bear. Everyone appeared to be happy and healthy.

Of course, both of us had our favorite animals that we just had to go see and spend time with. For Q, it was the tigers, and we were in for a treat as mama tiger and her two babies were out playing.

Did you see his paws?! He's going to grow up to be one big boy.

Right down the way from the tiger exhibit was MY exhibit...Hippo Beach. Oh, I felt like a kid again practically running to their habitat...

I peered over the railing looking for my beloved hippos, but I couldn't see them! Oh, no. Were they not out today? Were they in a place hidden from public view? I walked quickly down to the lower portion of the exhibit, and there they were...my hippos.

The only thing separating me from these adorable creatures was an incredibly thick piece of glass. I'm sure if given the opportunity, they would eat me, but come on! Don't you just want to cuddle with them?? I did, so I went to the nearest gift shop and did just that.

Moving on, we stumbled upon some very happy birds wading in the water. I was FLOORED to see my very first Anhinga, native only to the southeast of the county. He wasn't tagged, which surprised me. Could this be some poor wayward bird redirected by a strong hurrican? Nah. He's probably just a tourist :)

Don't you just love they way they sun bath? They're much like cormorants in that respect, spreading their wings out to dry.

Right next to Mr. Anhinga anhinga (yup, that's his scientific name), we spotted a Great Egret.

I couldn't tell is he was tagged or not since his legs are in the water, but he very well could be a simple local just out looking for a good time.

After mingling with the birds, we headed over to the Panda Research Station. We had to wait in a small line to view the pandas, but it was well worth it. We saw daddy panda, Gao Gao, mama panda, Bai Yun, and new comer Zhen Zhen who we caught napping in the tree.

You know what they say - toddlers need their sleep (and mama needs to eat)!

Speaking of bears, we also spent some time at Polar Bear Plunge although no one was plunging into the water that day. Both bears were more concerned about how many carrots they could stick in their mouth at one time. I think five was the winning number.

After the polar bears, we headed over to the African mammals. We saw elephants...

And my mom's favorite, giraffes.

And what would a trip to the zoo be without stopping by the manor to say hello to those gregarious little meerkats?

Can we say CUTE?!

I could potentiall show you a zoo full of more pictures, but I think I'll stop here. Needless to say, we had a great time frolicing with the critters.

In keeping with the animal theme, here's a birthday card I made for my grandpa. His birthday is this Friday!

I had so much fun putting this card together! I mixed and matched my stamps and added some ornaments to my tree. I only had white pearls on hand, so I used my Bic Markers to color a few to my specifications. I'm really happy with the results!

I've been on a kick lately to really jazz up the inside of my cards, so here's what I did for this one.

Supplies: Hero Arts "Owl Chirstmas" and "Jolly Christmas stamp sets & Holly, Jolly Christmas stamp set; Whisper White & Chocolate Chip cardstock; Basic Grey Figgy Pudding pattern paper; Chocolate Chip ribbon

My goodness I have written a book here on this post! I'm going to sign off for now and wish you all a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving Holiday. Please pray for those who cannot be here with their families and pray for all those killed today and being held hostage in Mumbai, India (What is our world coming to??)