Is there a better time to go to the zoo than the fall? Maybe we would have had a few more things to see, but the weather was perfect and the zoo was only minimally crowded with groups of school children, so I think we chose a perfect time! Tia took B to the zoo for her birthday “memory gift,” and graciously included Nana, Poppa, and me as well. This picture is way out of order, but it is one of my favorite of B from that day.
I took most of the pictures of B, but my FIL took most of the excellent animal pics you will see here with his spectacular lens!
We started with the alligators – it may not be a good year for the football gators, but we certainly enjoyed seeing some real gators taking a mid-morning snooze!
After that it was on to see the seals, who were playing around and having a marvelous time! B spent more time here than anywhere else in the whole zoo – if we had let her, she may have stayed right here all day!
We also saw some buffalo…
…before moving on to see the giraffes. While B spent a whole 5 seconds looking at the giraffes before declaring she was done, to this day she will declare that the giraffes were her absolute favorite. Go figure.
When we got to the chimp area, they had lots of statues of various chimps. Up until this point, B would not really get on or interact with the statues, but the chimps won her over.
How do you do sir?
Thanks for the ride!
Of course, there were also real chimps – nap time!
Once she got on one statue, she was game to check out pretty much any statue in the place. The elephants were a particular favorite since they had some elephant statues just her size.
We also checked out an indoor section that had a rain forest…
..and a hop scotch area (fun with Tia!)…
…and one of those board things you put your faces in – B just LOVES them (with Nana)!
She had a wonderful time and just plain wore herself out – napped pretty much the whole way home!
Brianna’s friend William had his 4th birthday party this past weekend – a BUG themed party! Luckily Brianna is all about bugs lately, so she was good with this. She even said it was her favorite birthday party ever! So happy…
First they made bug hats (see later pictures – she put as much orange on there as possible). Then, after following their link on the spider web (ribbon), they each found their own bug catchers – quite useful to have when you need to go outside to find and catch some bugs!
Of course, then they were famished and had to have some bug snacks (ants on a log, worms in mud cake, antennae, cocoons, beetle juice, etc.). Check out one of her favorites – her spider ring!
With the birthday boy!
Last year, B was very shy and would only go up to each door if we carried her, and would only say trick-or-treat and thank you if we prompted her. Fast forward to this year – she marched up to each door, rang the door bell, said her “lines” and quickly moved onto the next house. She loved everything about trick-or-treating! While I could have done without the rain, I am not sure she even noticed. The next morning, she told me she wanted to do it again, and was quite disappointed when I told her she had to wait a whole year. She thinks each season should have trick-or-treating… 
Here are some pics from her big day. The day started with lots of fun at school, including games, a Halloween party, and a Halloween parade.
Getting ready to go…The sweet witch…
The scary witch…
With Grandma and Grandpa…
With Mommy and Daddy…
Can we go yet???
Yay, Hawke (the great white shark) is here!
We only stayed out about an hour (I think she could have gone for at least another hour), but she got a pretty good take. As she kept commenting, “my candy is heavy!”
