Olive goes to the Zoo! part 2

Zebras!!

I got the feeling she recognized these guys from her animal books, and they held her interest only until she discovered the fence..

Although it looks like she is watching the beautiful exotic animals, she is actually going crazy trying to get her mouth on one of these fake bamboo poles. So Im deducing that she is part beaver, or she is teething again..

So we finally made it to Bunnyland!

And we were promptly given some paper bunny ears as a souvenir. Olive loved them and Mommy and Daddy couldnt resist getting out the camera for like the fiftieth time this morning..

She was having a blast and was in such a giggly mood I decided to go in for my trademarked "sloppy fart kiss".

Game, set, and match.

After a few rounds of that she was begging me to stop, and I did.

So one last 'super-Olive' photo and then it was time for the ultimate Easter experience...

The bunnies.

They had some 'Rabbit Specialists' there holding a bunny and Olive was really excited. She has been mesmerized by our cats, and always is eager to pet their soft fur. And she was anxious to get some petting time with Peter Cottontail.

She was very gentle, at first, but then grabbed a huge scruff of the little Rabbits back, and the poor little guy got fidgety. The referee sent Olive to her corner with a warning, and a new bunny was brought into the ring.

She was tentative at first,

but soon threw caution to the wind.

Say Carrots!! (Olive was flying pretty high after petting those bunnies..)

What a lovely way to end such a fun day at the zoo!

Have a happy Easter everyone!

And as we stumbled around trying to find some food, we stopped to smell the flowers and enjoy what a special day we were blessed with..

Olive goes to the Zoo! part 1

We arrive at the Zoo!

We are eager to see the Easter Bunny, as we were told he is here somewhere, along with other Easter activities for the kiddies. Judging by the traffic, the packed parking lot, and the line for tickets, we are not the only ones on this quest today.

This is Olives first time to the Zoo, and we are curious if she will react with the same enthusiasm she shows for all of her animal books.

These were pretty cool to watch. (Though Olive seemed more interested in the pull string on my sweatshirt.)

So we continued our search for rabbits, and made our way toward a large crowd up ahead.

As we got closer, it turned out it was a Meerkat exhibit, and the anxious crowd was trying to get this guy to turn for a photo..

And while all the people were getting frustrated, I raised my camera, focus, and on queue Mr. Meerkat turned and gave me this 'over the shoulder' shot.

Everyone was freaking out yelling "get your camera!! he turned around Henry! Hurry!!" and as soon as it happened, it was over. A collective grown from the crowd as I some how walked away with this shot and a smile.

(It kinda felt like one of those Mentos commercials..)

Anyways, Thank you Mr. Meerkat. Im not sure why you did that, but that was pretty cool.

As the morning went on, the crowds and the sun came out, and we tore apart our bags looking for her sunhat. (Which we left in the car). Hence the new 'Junior Zookeeper' safari hat adorning O's noggin.

She looks pretty good eh?

One of the most iconic parts of the LA Zoo, the Flamigos. (or, correctly spelled 'the Flamingos').

This is where the opening of 'Threes Company" was filmed where Janet, Jack, and Chrissy bumble their way around the Zoo. The bad news: Chrissy was no longer standing there on one leg.

The good news: Olive was really intrigued by the flapping, gawking glowing birds. She was quite entranced by them.

It was funny watching her trip out on just what the heck she was watching. I think at one point she looked at her milk bottle and asked "what was in here?"

We kept ducking into tents and pavillions trying to find the rabbit exhibits, but no dice. One had a puppet show going on. And although the crowd was well into it, we found it kinda creepy, so we split..

As a parting gift, everyone got a box of peeps. Which I wasnt too excited about. But Rebecca acted like they were giving away $100 dollar bills. Ok.. Guess my wife has a thing for peeps.

(now I know what to get her for our anniversary!).

So Im taking these photos, and its pretty crowded with onlookers trying to get their own 'National Geographic' shots. And I turn around and this lady carrying a young girl walks by and the child drops a pair of sunglasses.

I picked em up and called out for the woman, tapped her shoulder, she turned. "umm, I believe you dropped these" I said. She looked at the glasses then gave me a huge radiant smile and said "Oh thank you so much!!" She took the glasses and returned to her husband who had kept walking.

And then I realized that was Halle Berry.

I turned to Rebecca with a confused look.. She said "Yeah, that was Halle Berry. And she's with her model boyfriend and he's HOT!" Anyways, it was yet another one of those weird 'only in LA' moments. But as starstruck as we were, Olive didnt seem to care. Imagine that.

Oddly enough, Halle turned up in this photo. She has her back turned towards us, and is in a red tshirt.

(And yea, she was beautiful.)

So we walked a bit further, in search of some food and I carried the Jr. Zoo Keeper for a bit.

So we scaled the mountain paths, scattered with little burroughs of cages where three or four Monkey/Eagles/Deer/Groundhogs called home. Oddly enough, the most active of all the tenants were these turtles.

Unfortunately Olive missed all the action.

And she wasnt the only one sleeping, as we crept up on some lions.

I made some joke about leaving her in the cage and she shot me a look.

Ok Olive, you can come home with us.

Part 2 coming soon!