Carnival of the Animals

I rock my new earrings... non?

We had a wonderful Mother's Day.

It began with being offered special, hand-made gifts by the resident seven-year-old, who simply could. not. wait. past 6.30 am to show me all the things she had been working so hard to complete.

At a more reasonable hour (8.30) I was brought a delicious breakfast-in-bed, made specially by the husband and children.

Then, it was off for a delightful day at the Zoo.

Among our favourite sights were:

The giraffes... one of which treated us to a truly magnificent gallop around his field. I have never before seen a giraffe RUN at top-speed... The grace with which this animal moved was truly astounding. Even more surprising was the fact that, even though she was covering a tremendous amount of ground, because of her enormous size, it looked to us as though she was moving in slow-motion. To see such things on television is one thing, but to see it live, right in front of your eyes, is a truly memorable experience.

The lions... who roared appreciatively when a keeper arrived with their mid-day meal.

The gorillas, who had to beat-out Charles the magnificent silver-backed patriarch of the "family" to get their share of the vegetables scattered about the enclosure. (While Charles staunchly refused to be photographed and stomped off to hide, the other gorillas seemed to watch us with as much interest as we had in them.)

A spell-binding aquarium exhibit (I can't wait until next weekend, when the BRAND NEW aquarium, which will include sea-life from Australia, will open!)

But by far, THESE GUYS were the most wonderful sight of all. The two enormous hippos are Wee Three's absolute "BEST THING" about the zoo... Yesterday, it was though the show they put on was entirely for us. The waddled around on land and posed for photos: I think this one even smiled:

Then, when a keeper began tossing huge, red apples into the water, they lumbered in for a swim and a snack. It is incredible to watch an animal that is so lugubrious and clumsy on land, suddenly turn into an agile and graceful swimmer. A swimmer, however, without many table manners... The slorping and chomping that ensued upon the discovery of each apple bobbing in the water sent the girlies into fits of giggles... Wee Three was probably right, when she noted that her Grandma and Grandpa would NOT have approved...

This didn't seem to bother the hippo much, however.

Yes, when it comes right down to it, to heck with manners... And, if only humans could enjoy a mid-afternoon nap in a warm, sticky mud-puddle, we would all probably be a lot better off.

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day, surrounded by the people (and other creatures) you love best. I know we sure did.