A Zootiful Day

For the Monkeys, no visit to San Diego is complete without a trip to the world-famous zoo.

Torry had never been, so it was exciting to experience it with her. that girl and that boy happened to be free on Sunday, so they came along for the fun, too.

The koalas were cute but very very sleepy.

Wallaby.

Yellow-backed duiker.

Loved the meerkats!

Crafty elephant.

This guanaco wasn't skittish like the ones we saw in Chile.

Dancing rhino! Not really.

We love giraffes. They are so gentle and sweet.

Camel butt.

Red river hog.

Zebras.

Polar bear through a dirty window.

Exhausted parent.

Western red-flanked duiker.

This southern gerenuk was one of the dumbest creatures I'd ever seen. Here he is looking totally normal. Kinda cute even.

Then he stuck his face in his friend's nether regions.

He dove really deep.

Then his friend peed all over his head, and he made this face.

He had this distorted look for a really long time. We were all laughing so hard at him. It was a like a Billy Idol sneer.

And then he licked his peed-on face! So stupid!

Flamingos.

Otters rule!


Me! Ha!

Snack time.

This crazy hippo loved squashing himself against the glass.


Despite its familiar domesticated appearance, this is actually a fierce fishing cat.

Scary monkey.

The gorillas were so fun to watch, especially the baby.

The orangutans were great, too. I love primates. Obviously.

This sun bear wouldn't stop digging, so we pretended that the random fur on the log in his enclosure was an animal. So. Weird.


Bored hyena.

My favorite part of the day was seeing the pandas. Twice!

It was little Zhen Zhen's first birthday on Sunday! The zoo gave her a present with non-toxic pink paint for her to enjoy, but Zhen Zhen just slept in a tree all day.

Instead, Zhen Zhen's mother Bai Yun played with her daughter's birthday present, which is why she has some pink marks on her snout!

Su Lin's third birthday was on Saturday. We came at the perfect time to celebrate both of these cubs' milestones. Seriously adorable.

Then it was Creepy Mask Time. Somehow, Torry still looked cute in her mask.



We ended the day with lots of amphibians and reptiles. The only one I actually liked was the Galapagos tortoise.

We bid that girl and that boy adieu around 8:30 p.m. and began the drive home. We were still full from brunch at that point! But, as we neared L.A., we stopped and chowed at In-N-Out. Mr. Monkey had a gift card, so dinner was gratis.

Lovely weather. Fun friends and family. Cutie pandas. Free double-doubles.

Life is good.