California 2015 - San Diego Zoo!

California, part three. Monday was zoo day! I think I mentioned that it rained while we were in California? Basically on and off all day Sunday and Monday. We were supposed to go to the zoo Sunday, but rain happened, so we postponed it until Monday. And rain still happened! But we went anyway and it was actually a blast. We bought cheapo parkas from CVS (my dad and Lynne came prepared with actual raincoats) and made the best of it!

I think it worked out well, because the zoo wasn't nearly as full as it would have been had the weather been nice. And there were definite periods of sunshine and warmth, so we were able to peel our rain gear off and dry for a bit before tugging it all back on. And although some animals were hiding, we still saw all the major stuff!

Pardon my terrible photos that I am sharing with you anyway because I loooove animals. I brought my big camera but was too scared to bust it out in the rain, so iPhone photos had to do. And to whoever says, "my phone takes better photos than a real camera", you are a fool. They are not better. But they will do in a pinch. 

This flamingo gave us a serious stink eye. He walked right up to the edge and followed us down his fence. I don't think he liked us much. Probably our terrible ponchos.

This is not an ad for Southwest (although, we swear by them!). The airport is right in the middle of the city, so planes were constantly zooming around us. I caught two planes in my photos.

We look fairly awful in this photo, but check out the polar bear yawning in the background! Also, holla at them ponchos. They actually did an excellent job, for being so cheesy.We stayed nice and dry underneath. We just looked like fools. Pregnant in a poncho? I felt whale-ish. Appropriate for a zoo.

REINDEER! WHERE IS SANTA!?

The pandas immediately made me think of Anchorman.

We rode the little sky tram thing, and it gives the most excellent views of the zoo. That place is huuuuge. And all those trees! It really is an amazing place. Next year the zoo celebrates it's 100th anniversary. 100 years! No wonder those trees are so big. Also, look at these cuties:

They were such good sports for toughing it out in the rain with us. I guess they're used to it as they are fishing extraordinaires and will fish it out in any condition. Next time we plan on visiting a place in the rain, we'll take a page out of their book and bring real rain gear.

Rain! We rode the tram through the zoo one way and then needed to ride it back the other way. But almost as soon as we got on for our return trip, it started pouring! That was okay though, we got to see some excellent rain covered views.

We wrapped up the day by taking the guided doubledecker bus tour around the zoo. If you're at the San Diego Zoo and are on the fence about taking the bus tour, do it! We rode on the top, thankfully the rain let up for this part and it was perfect. You see so many animals and the tour guides are great. And you go through areas you can't get to on foot! Perfect way to end the day.

Slowly but surely the big guy was drying off. I feel you, buddy!

It was a good day. Even with the rain. This was my second trip to the San Diego Zoo, but Brendon's first! He had a good time. I hope! I think the last time we went it was kinda rainy too. Nothing like this, but I distinctly remember having to wear a jacket. I was like 15 though so my memory is questionable.

This is the coolest zoo, y'all! I really haven't been to that many zoos, but this one is such a winner. And they have a Safari Park a bit out of town you can visit too! I've never done that, but it sounds intriguing. They do a lot of breeding endangered animals for releasing into the wild there. Very cool, save all the animals. One day I'd like to check that place out. If there are animals, I'm in!

Scenes from the homeland

Hello internet! Meet Mia, the newest member of my Dad's ever growing animal family. Isn't she the cutest? Saturday we spent the day down in New Braunfels at my Dad's, just hanging out. It was so relaxing. We hung out with the animals, laid by the pool, and my dad and Brendon had an epic afternoon of badminton. I also took a nap, which is worth mentioning because I never get to take naps. AND my dad made the best brisket I've ever had. Best. Ever.

That donkey!!! She is the sweetest thing. She loves to be pet and will follow you around to make sure that you do pet her. Such a fluffy sweetie!

Brendon taking an old tractor for a spin. My dad has three or four 1940's Ford tractors that he rebuilt and uses on his property. They're so cool.

My Dad's beeeeautiful cedar barn that is just about finished. He's built it all by hand(!!!) and the inside is as pretty as the outside. Daddio, build me a casa!? Those donkey's have a sweet crib.

Spending time at my Dad's house always leaves me feeling well rested. It's so laid back and as much as I love living in the city, it's beyond nice to get back to the country. There's a calmness out there that settles your soul. It's refreshing and we need to get out there more often.

Weekend fun

We had lots and lots and lots of fun this weekend. We headed down to NB Saturday evening to have a belated birthday dinner for Brendon with my dad, step mom, step bro, and sister. We ate at one of our favorite places, the Gristmill. The food and company was great, the only low point was me accidentally spilling throwing a glass of water all over Brendon. And then him having a little hissy fit. Whoops! I felt terrible, but really, if you decide to sit next to me and liquids are around it's an understood risk.

Gruene is such a cool place. Even growing up in NB, I still love to act like a tourist and walk around checking out all the shops. Although now I guess I really am a tourist!

After dinner we had birthday cupcakes at my daddio's and then we crashed there because Brendon had a few too many cervezas and I had been up since 5am.

Four cupcakes for 24 years old?

The next day we said hello to all the animals (I swear my dad and step momma are going to be run out of house and home by all these guys!), had a deeeelish breakfast with my dad and step mom, and then headed back up to Austin.

 Super cute young chickens! Check out the front two's hair-dos. They've got fluffy little feather afros! After an experience with a super sweet chicken in a gas station parking lot, I have decided I want pet chickens.

 Turkey bffs. They don't go anywhere without each other. They seriously walk RIGHT next to each other constantly. Oh and they gobble on command.

Hands down, the best lawn mowers around.

Sunday was the Kite Festival in Austin! It turns out this thing is a pretty big deal. I have never seen so many people in one place! And obviously, there were SO many kites. HUNDREDS of kites. It was a little insane, but awesome. And the weather was absolutely perfect. Not a cloud in the sky and plenty of wind. We've been having some awesome weather lately.

Brendon and our spider man kite that we've had for like a year. It almost immediately ended up here:

In a tree. Poor Brendon only got to fly the kite for like two minutes before this happened. He (along with some folks in the snow cone line) tried very hard to get it out of the tree, but alas, the tree claimed the spidey kite.

After losing our kite, we relaxed in the sun for a while. See how PALE I am? Well I am now a lovely lobster color now. My face, chest, hands and feet (??) fried. We didn't even think to bring sunscreen. Next year we'll know better.

They were all kinds of contests for homemade kites. See that GIANT black one? Although it looks like it's close it's actually on the far side of the open area in the middle. It was HUGE. Obviously this was the biggest kite contest. We're going to build a kite and try to enter it into one of the contests next year! We (and by we I mean I) better start researching kite building...

Aside from getting super sunburned, the weekend was a great success. Family, beautiful weather, and time with your husband. Nothing better. I am loving this spring! So much wonderfulness.

Lions, Tigers, and dams, oh my!

Yesterday Brendon and I visited the Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary. We were a little skeptical when we pulled up, but it turned out to be really awesome. All the animals are rescued, so it isn't a typical zoo. Most of the animals were pets or circus animals that had to be surrendered. Some of them had sad stories but it was great to see them in a happier home. It was a quiet little place and you get to get really close to the animals. Plus the weather was b-e-a-utiful! All the animals were out enjoying the sun, it was the perfect day to go. The zoo is out in the hill country outside of town. I love the hill country! Home sweet home. Unfortunately the hill country is full of cedar, so our allergies were a tad out of control, especially poor Brendon. But we had a blast!

You could feed some of the animals! It was a lot of fun, minus the slobber. I got to feed bambi! All the animals were very ready to get a snack, they knew how it worked and were showing off their cuteness.

 This is Bobo, he was so sweet! He loved getting attention. And he was beautiful! All the birds at the zoo were super friendly, it made me sad because they used to be peoples pets and probably miss having human interaction. Fortunately all the employees/volunteers seemed to really care about the animals! We are going to look into volunteering there!

Baby Mr. H in the hill country dying via allergies.

After we left the zoo, we went on a little drive and checked out the Lake Travis dam. You couldn't walk across it (I guess that makes sense since it's a hydroelectric dam, danger zone!) which was a bummer but it was very impressive! Not as big as the Hoover dam, but it makes the Canyon Lake dam look like a baby.

 

 

           

It was a great day. I feel like we hadn't had a day off together in forever! Today, the weather did a flip flop and it got really cold and windy. Felt like winter again. Yesterday it was like 75 degrees and tonight it's going to freeze. Texas you are weird.