Hippo Encounter at the Zoo

A hungry hippo.

I spent yesterday at the zoo with my grandkids and other family members. It was a fun family day. My grandkids were full of energy. By the way, where do they get all that energy? Was I that energized way-back-when? Anyway, the highlight of this zoo trip was a hippo encounter where we got to see the two hippos up close and fed them big chunks of carrots. All I can say is "Awesome!"

Gulf Breeze Zoo

Isn't he a handsome boy?

The zoo I'm talking about is the Gulf Breeze Zoo. It's small in comparison to other zoos, but it also provides an intimacy with the animals which isn't always found in big zoos. The animals there are almost like family. In fact, my grandkids often remind of the little monkeys in the zoo and I've told them that more than once.

Cleopatra, the mama-to-be hippo.

There are two hippos at the Gulf Breeze Zoo. Cleopatra is the expectant mama hippo who is due any day. The papa hippo is the handsome guy in the two pics above. I'll definitely go back to the zoo for pics of the new baby hippo.

It was a beautiful day at the zoo with temps in the high-60s. That's one of the things I love about Florida, great temps all year long. Gee, it was hard to believe that winter and Christmas are only days away.





One of the peacocks strutting his stuff.

Even the peacocks seemed to think it was spring rather than almost winter. This gorgeous male peacock was in full display and put on quite a show. If I were a female peacock, well, I would have been impressed.






Rwanda and baby Kigali.

This visit to the zoo I was able to get pics of the mama gorilla, Rwanda, with her baby, Kigali. Last time we were there the baby was sleeping. This time he was showing off, but sticking close to his mama. These two are Western Lowland Gorillas.

Zion the lion cub.

Zion, the four and a half month old lion cub, has been moved to a big outdoor pen next to the pair of Siberian Tigers. Zion seemed to be quite happy and was romping around playing with a big ball. Then he climbed up into his tree for some time to relax out.

As one of my granddaughters pointed out, "Zion needs a friend." I assured her that the zoo is going to get a female lion cub to keep Zion company. And yes, the zoo is currently looking for just the right cub.






The two chimps on Chimp Island

I took quite a number of pics of the two chimps. Some of the pics were taken from the Zoo Train which circles Chimp Island, the hippos and Gorilla Island. The other pics were taken from the long wood walkway that overlooks Chimp Island.

This is the chimp who was blowing kisses.

One  chimp in particular seemed to love the camera and his audience. He blew kisses, played peek-a-boo, smiled, waved and seemed just as happy to see us as we were to see him.

All in all it was a really fun day at the zoo. Four whole hours and I was exhausted. My grandkids, on the other hand, were still energized. Ahhh, to be young.

For those who follow my blog, I usually add a list of books at the end of my posts. However, in this case, I haven't come across any additional zoo related reads. So please check out my previous November post, "Zoo Tails," for some fun/interesting zoo reads and some cool zoo pics.

Thanks again for visiting my blog. I hope you all will stop by from time to time.

Have a Holly Jolly Holiday!

A close-up of my grandkids' Christmas tree.

How can it already be December 7th? Where are the minutes, hours, days going? I've done some Christmas shopping, but I've yet to wrap the presents. I bought Christmas cards, but haven't done them yet. I haven't even begun to look for a Christmas tree.

When my grandkids were here on Thanksgiving, my grandson asked, "Nana, why don't you have a Christmas tree or Christmas lights?" They already have their Christmas tree up and decorated and all the holiday lights on their house.

Gee, even my neighbors have their Christmas lights up and their houses and yards look so festive at night. I guess it's time to encourage my dear hubby to get out the holiday lights or we'll soon have the only unfestive house in the neighborhood.

I dropped by the library today and they were already in holiday mode with a pretty Christmas tree and a three foot tall Santa. I'm starting to feel a bit guilty that I haven't at least started to set out some Christmas decorations. The holiday will be here before I can blink. Okay, I promise I'll put out some decorations this weekend.

In the meantime, here's another list of Christmas reads. If you haven't already seen it, there's another list on my last post. Anyway, I haven't read any of these books, but they all look like great/fun holiday reads. The ones marked with an (*) are books I recently added to my Kindles. All of these are available in eBook format.

Christmas Fiction/Romances (in no particular order):

One Snowy Night Before Christmas by Pamela Fryer*
Mistletoe Mischief (Romancing Wisconsin, #1) by Stacey Joy Netzel*
Holly Lane by Toni Blake
Cupid's Christmas by Bette Lee Crosby
Mistletoe in Maine (Holiday Brides) by Ginny Baird
A Family for Christmas by Helen Scott Taylor
Bundle of Joy by Barbara Bretton
A Lawman's Christmas (McKettricks of Texas) by Linda Lael Miller
An Outlaw's Christmas (McKettricks of Texas) by Linda Lael Miller
Montana, Mistletoe, Marriage by Patricia Thayer
Christmas on Nutcracker Court by Judy Duarte
A Cold Creek Noel (Cowboys of Cold Creek) by RaeAnne Thayne
The Duke of Christmas Past by Kim Bowman
Forever Christmas by Christine Lynxwiler
A Chesapeake Shores Christmas by Sherryl Woods
Kissing Under the Mistletoe (St. Helena Vineyard) by Marina Adair
Blue Christmas (Moody Blue Trilogy, #1) by Diana Moody
A Bush Christmas by Margareta Osborn
The Toymaker by Kay Springsteen 
Christmas in Venice by Meadow Taylor
All I Want for Christmas is You by Lisa Mondello
The Christmas Dog by Melody Carlson
A Cowboy for Christmas by Kristen James
Christmas Countdown (Lost, Inc.) by Vicki Hinze
Naughty or Nice by Stephanie Bond
Mistletoe Mine (Eternity Springs) by Emily March
Jingle This! by Stephanie Rowe

Wow! That's a lot of great romantic Christmas reads. I haven't even begun to list them all, so be sure to check back for more Christmas book lists in upcoming December posts. Before I forget, I'm currently reading a Christmas book on my Kindle Fire, Christmas of the Red Chiefs by Linda Lael Miller. This is a holiday read I think you'll enjoy. Thanks again for stopping by. I hope you all have a Holly Jolly Holiday!

The Pensacola Interstate Fair

 

 I am one of those people who loves going to the fair. I love the carnival rides, the food concession stands, the animals. The fair is a great place to walk around, people watch and take lots of photos.

The Pensacola Interstate Fair

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my grandkids at the Pensacola Interstate Fair. What an awesome day enjoying the fair through their eyes.









The kiddie carnival rides were their thing - Fun Houses, Kiddie Roller Coasters, the Ferris Wheels and rides I could not even begin to name.


Since they had day passes (courtesy of their parents), they went on every kiddie ride numerous times. I was exhausted just watching them. Where do kids get all that energy?

These days I don't go on the rides. Since I had back-surgery in 2004, Roller Coasters and the like are a no-no for me. But I still enjoy all the sites, sounds and smells of the fair.


Hot dogs on a stick, curly fries, cotton candy, candy apples, you name it, all the traditional goodies were there. No, I didn't eat all those things, I just enjoyed being there.

As a kid in Southern California, the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona was "The Fair" for me. Every year I eagerly awaited the fair days. My dad loved the fair, so we always went on opening day and then usually a couple more times before the fair was over.


Yes, back then I rode every carnival ride. The Ferris Wheels, Round-Up, Hammer and Roller Coasters were all favorites. I loved playing the midway games, even though I never won anything.

Back then I ate the hot dogs on a stick, cheese on a stick, lemonade, cotton candy and fresh-from-the-oven gingerbread heaped with whip cream. I was ultra-skinny then. These days, if I ate all that I'd weigh a gazillion pounds.

As a kid, my absolute favorite part of the fair, even better than the carnival rides and food, was all the animals. I'd spend hours petting and talking to all the horses, cows, goats, pigs, etc.

Of course, the horses were always my favorites and the Pomona Fair had lots of them - from Clydesdales to Shetland Ponies, from Palominos to Appaloosas, every kind of horse you could imagine.


I'd moo with the cows, watch baby pigs being born and baby chicks hatching. It was awesome.







Well, the Pensacola Interstate Fair is small in comparison, with few animals (primarily cows), but a good number of carnival rides. But for my grandkids, this is "The Fair." In their eyes, this fair is huge.


I lost track of the number of times they went through the Fun Houses. They enjoyed the giant slides, the flying elephants, the spinning green dragons, the spinning cars and the yellow bus that went up in the air. In fact, I don't think there was a ride they didn't love.

My twin granddaughters loved the rabbits, cows, calves and the big Brahma Bull. My grandson was impressed with the two Texas Longhorns.

The fair photos on this post were ones I took yesterday. I selected the most interesting ones for this post. No, I'm not in any of the photos in case you wanted to know.

By the way, my grandkids said the big Ferris Wheel is awesome. Of course, they thought all the rides were awesome. All in all, it was a grand day.


For those of you who know I love to put together lists of books, I managed to find a few books with a fair theme. So here they are, in no particular order (all are available as eBooks).







A Fair to Remember (Welcome to Redemption) by Stacey Joy Netzel*
The County Fair by Katherine Valentine
State Fair (Benni Harper Mystery) by Earlene Fowler
World's Fair by E. L. Doctorow
Murder at the Ingham County Fair (Lou Searing Mystery) by Richard Baldwin
The Carousel Painter by Judith Miller
Death at the Fair (Emily Cabot Mystery) by Frances McNamara
The Last Queen of the Gypsies by William Cobb
Meet Me in St. Louis by Robert Jackson (YA)
The Carousel by Belva Plain
The View from the Ferris Wheel by Courtney Parker

*On my Kindle.

I was surprised to find so few books with a fair theme. I'm sure there has to be others out there that I've missed, so please feel free to add them in the comments below. I hope you'll also share your fair memories.