Last weekend was a fun one. Several of my family members got together and spent the night in St. Louis Friday so we could all go to the zoo Saturday. All us girls rode together and my aunt was driving, so I’m sure we made it there faster than anyone has ever made it to St. Louis without flying.

We got there late afternoon, did a little shopping, did a little carb loading at an awesome Italian restaurant called Cafe Napoli. I had bowtie pasta and chicken drenched in a basil pesto cream sauce. It was to die for. I ate it all. And then I was miserable. Because that’s what happens when you’re a glutton.

It was great to be in a big city surrounded by huge buildings and glass.

I felt exhilerated and revitalized. What the country does for my husband, the city does for me.

The next day, I was so excited because I had been to the St. Louis Zoo before and kind of knew what to expect. I knew Peanut would have a blast. And then there’s the kid in me that would also have a blast.

Here’s part of the crew. My aunt is behind the camera and a couple other cousins hadn’t shown up yet. I told everyone to make their “excited face” and I guess these people just don’t get super excited. Just me and Jordon.

Look at Peanut. (That’s the face that pretty much forecasted her day.)

After then we were off to see what we could see. The first thing I saw was a food stand with Dippin’ Dots, at which point I got REALLY excited. It’s the little things for this girl.

The rhino was the first exhibit we came to. (Or as Peanut says, the “rhinotheruth.”)

Isn’t he the cutest thing?? I wanted to take him home with me…

Then we came across this part where they let you hold sleepy babies.

So, of course, we did that. They actually let me take that one home!!

Then, it was on to see the hippos.

We actually didn’t really get to see the hippos because you always have those discourteous people who will never move, so I stood on the rocks at eye level with one who just popped out of the water.

It turned out pretty cool.

The elephants were next.

The farmer wanted to take her home with us when he saw her crush a branch and eat it with absolutely no effort. We have a lot of cleaning to do around our place and could really use the help.

Afterwards, we met up with my other cousins. This is Grayson.

Hee hee! He wore his hat and his sunglasses the whole time! I was impressed.

My 2nd favorite part of any zoo is bears.

This is a Sun Bear.

Grizzly.

I’m just in awe of these behemoths.

I can’t remember what type this one was, but he looks very comfortable.

Then, we came upon the gorillas.

And the sea lions. They were fun! This guy’s waiting for a fish to fall into his mouth.

And then there was my absolute favorite part of any zoo. Well…. other than Dippin’ Dots.

BIG CATS!!

Isn’t he beautiful?? I wanted to take him home with me… I wanted to pet him and hold him and love him.

And, of course, the tiger.

I could have stood there and watched him all day. I think tigers are amazing and gorgeous.

Even though I was able to see some other cats, I had an obstructed view so I wasn’t able to get a good picture.

The group had to drag me away from that exhibit.

Zebras are always fun.

Momma and baby.

And one of the last things to see: Giraffes.

This was the one thing Peanut really wanted to see and the poor little thing all but fell into a coma before we got there. I tried to wake her up but it wasn’t happening. She’d had a big day and was just plum worn out.

So, that was our fun day at the zoo.

And the cherry on top was that I ate Dippin’ Dots.

Copyright. © 2013 by Breauna Krider