four months later

I could have let this go.  But they were nice pictures.  And once a couple of months ago, Cory the page told me he was really looking forward to this post.  So, imaginary readers, blame Cory the page.


Way back in May on the lovely whole family vacation, we went to the National Zoo.  It was sweltering, but we saw lots of animals, and Ring got her stuff naked mole rat.  And I got a panda magnet and a Christmas ornament.

 The last time I was at the National Zoo I think there was a baby panda.  I can remember that the panda was inside and there were lines to wait and see them.  We had to work a little harder this time to get to the right spot to see this guy in his habitat, and we didn't see him (or maybe her) too up-close, but I got some good shots anyway.

 I don't know which of the pandas this was though.

 The elephant house is being remodeled right now, but you can still see the elephants when they go out for their exercise.  They had just gotten to their pool to cool off when we got to see them.  This guy was very entertaining.

 He splashed and floated around and played with his toys.

 Then a friend came to play.

 

 He was a little more hesitant about plunging right in.

 But eventually the heat won him over.

 

 They have lowland gorillas which are much smaller (and less impressive) than the mountain gorillas that we have in Little Rock, but this guy did pose nicely.

 The daddy was sitting up on top.

 Mommy and baby were hanging out below.

 Then in a move that seemed choreographed, they switched places.  Look at that baby!

 There was also an incident involving the gorillas drinking urine that grossed out everyone and sent us on to the next set of animals.

 I love the big turtles.  Always.

 The orangutans at the National Zoo take the O-line from their house to another area where they spend time during the day.  None of them were in the house when we were there, so we were hoping to see them climbing across the line at some point.  I went in search of a bench in the shade while everyone else went through the reptile house, so my moma and I were the only ones who got to see this guy.

 Lions are so lazy.

 

 I really wanted him to hold his head up, but no luck.

 The tigers were super-lazy too.

 But the cheetah was ready to perform.

 

 Pacing . . .

  . . . prancing . . . 

 

  . . . and making a certain three-year-old cheetah-loving boy's day.

Some hot but cute girls.

There were lots more animals that we saw, but I didn't get pictures of everything.  I was probably busy talking animal business with one of the kiddos or doing continual head counts.  It was so crowded for most of the day, and I discovered that I'm more paranoid than I realized I would be about losing one of the Handful.

Speaking of the Handful: 

Man, I like those kids.

And I am officially finished blogging our DC trip.  Thanks for reliving the journey with me.