Lions and Tigers and...Giraffes!

I finally went to the zoo I've been looking forward to on Saturday, and I got to feed giraffes! Giraffes are one of my favorite animals. I just think they're so pretty, unique, and graceful. It turns out they can also kill a lion with a kick of its hoof. Crazy! Before we got to the giraffes, we saw lots of other animals like this kangaroo who was sleeping on his back. For the first few seconds, I really thought it might be dead, but he was twitching.

[Super relaxation!]

I thought this monkey was funny because he reminded me of The Thinker. He was just sitting on that basketball, hangin' out. It's so odd to see how closely they can resemble humans in some of their mannerisms.

[So deep in thought]

They had a petting zoo in the middle of the zoo with goats of all sizes, so we went into there. This little white one was the cutest. It didn't want to leave that stump! I think it was a little shy. It didn't want to turn around and let me get a good picture!

There was also a part of the zoo where you can just walk around with deer who are far more accustomed to people than normal deer. You can feed them too! They're pretty greedy, especially the males. And after you feed them, you definitely feel like you immediately need to wash your hands, but it was cool. The spotted ones were my favorite.

[Me feeding the deer!]

And then, finally, it was time to feed the giraffes! I was really excited. Unfortunately, one of the workers there sort of put a damper on the whole thing by being a little pushy and rude, but it was still really awesome to get to be that close to a giraffe! They told us that we couldn't pet them, but I wish I did anyway. I don't think they would've cared since they were so into eating those leaves!

[Their tongues are super long!]

[Nomnomnomnom]

Chris made friends with this one deer after we were done feeding the giraffes. The deer was just walking by his side for the longest time. Chris would just walk with him, with his hand on his back. It was so cute! 

One of my other favorite animals is cats. I love domestic cats, but I also love big cats. They're so gorgeous and strong. The leopard was so pretty. I wish he was a little more active though. All of the big cats just kinda laid around or were sleeping.

Before we left, we enjoyed some snacks, and then went on this train ride that they have there. It was kind of lame, but it was free since I won tickets for it.

[Chris and I waiting for the train to leave]

I had to go see the giraffes one more time before leaving. I wanted a picture with one, but there weren't really a lot around by the time we went back to their habitat.  It's kinda hard to see in the background, but there's one with his head over the fence eating the grass.

[Dress: H&M
Shoes: Gap
Bag: H&M]

So this is the dress that I saw in H&M a couple of months ago and decided that I would get just for the occasion of going to the zoo. It's very appropriate, especially since there was a leopard there!

Here's a giant turtle that we saw on the way out. They can grow to be about 550 pounds, I think. I can't really remember, but that number is jumping out at me.

Of course, I had to stop in the gift shop. I was hoping to find some cool giraffe-themed treasures, but nothing really caught my eye. We did, however, find silly masks and take creepy pictures with them.

I didn't get my picture close to a real giraffe, so I took some with the fake metal ones out front. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

The day was over pretty quick. We got there a half hour before they opened because I wanted to be sure that I would get one of the limited tickets for the giraffe feeding. I think we left at around 2 or 3. But it was a fun day and I'm glad that I finally got to have my giraffe encounter!