At the zoo!

14. Visit the zoo.

I cannot believe that Summer is pretty much over. I'm kinda bummed. We still have so many things left on our Summer Bucket List and I feel like a total wiener for not crossing more of them off. (Well, technically, there are still a few more weeks of Summer so I'm not throwing in the towel just yet. And, honestly, we live in Southern California. It's always Summer for us.)

We did manage to cross off one of the bigger items though. This last weekend we drove all the way down to San Diego Escondido and spent some one-on-one time with some super cool animals at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. (We also sweated our butts off. It was insanely hot. And there were lots of hills to climb. And a double stroller to push. And whiny babies to hold. Did I mention it was insanely hot?)

When we told Lilly we were going to see gorillas and lions, she got really worried and said, "Oh no. They gonna get me, Mama?" When we explained that they were in cages she was very relieved. On we went.

Lilly loved checking out the map and trying to tell us where to go. Although, we did get lost more than a few times. I wish we could blame the toddler, but it was really our fault. We had no idea where anything was. At times we seriously felt like we were lost in the savanna. We felt like such newbs stopping every so often to figure out where the Gorilla Forest was or if there really were elephants just over the next humongous hill.

We stopped for a ridiculously overpriced snack and continued on our way. We also rode the safari tram around the park and saw a million different kinds of gazelles/antelope. There were also a ton of giraffes hanging out very close to the road.

After the tram ride we went to check out the lions but they were all busy being boring sleeping. We were able to get up close to this sleeping lioness, though. That was pretty rad.

Lilly took one look at her and said, "Hmm... maybe it died."

We walked around for a bit, ran into a rogue deer, hunted for tigers and finally stumbled upon the Elephant Valley.

That little guy was only four days old. He kept following his mama around trying to nurse and she kept walking around trying to get on with her day. Aww, an elephant I can relate to. It was so sweet. We watched these dudes until Lilly announced that she was ready to go somewhere else, so, we obliged and headed to the petting zoo.

Aaron tried to introduce Addie to a goat but she wasn't having it. She threw her hands back and started screaming... which we understand means No, thanks in Addie speak.

Lilly loved grooming the goats... until one very angry old goat snapped at her. That ruined everything. A few tears and some snot bubbles later, we ditched the "bad old goats" and headed for my favorite part: the bats!

Adorable, right? Right. We then walked over to the Lagoon Loop where Lilly practiced her long jump.

After that we decided to see if the gorillas were out and about. As soon as we saw them Lilly exclaimed, "Oooh! Chimpanzees!" Eh, close enough.

We watched them for a bit before the Mama (we assume she was the mama... there weren't any other gorillas hanging around the baby) grabbed her lunch and headed back into her cave to eat in peace. Lilly asked where she went and I said something about her probably wanting some quiet time to watch TV alone. (I don't know. It was hot. I was crazy.) And then Lilly said, "Maybe one day we can be monkeys and watch TV behind rocks, too." My heart went squeee and the she added, "I really, really want to be a monkey."

By this time we were exhausted and starving. We decided to head home but first we stopped at Olive Garden to take advantage of the never-ending pasta bowl. It was the perfect ending to our zoo adventure.