Xuelian and I had an early day today.  We had to be up at 5:30 to make it to her orthodontics appointment at Children's Hospital at 7:30.  She had to have molds and pictures taken of her teeth.  We go back in September to see what needs to be done.  We decided to go to the zoo after her appointment since we were in the city.

We love going to the zoo.  It was a good day.  My favorite are the Siberian Tigers.  We have three siblings that are a little over a year old.  They are usually really playful and fun to watch.  Today it was hot and they were content just to sit around.  They do seem to like people watching and are easy to photograph. The older tigers are always hiding.

 The flamigos were putting on a show today.  They were making lots of noise, flapping their wings and ruffling their feathers.

The rhino was actually out today.  He usually hides.

Xuelian was cheating in this picture.  We always take a picture to see how much she has grown.  Today she kept standing on her toes. 

 We stopped for a snack and she gave the fig newtons a thumbs up.  They are soooo gooood.

 Xuelian pretending to be an elephant in it's travel crate.

Xuelian was holding her hand over the water and all of the fish came over.  They thought it was feeding time. 

This little guy was just looking straight at the camera.  I took a bunch of pictures of him.

Xuelian thought the baby was cute.

This gorilla was turning away from cameras on the other side and I caught a picture.  He doesn't look to happy about it. 

 This is an African Painted Dog we have only had them for a few years.  They are usually hiding but today they were playing.  I think there are 10 maybe 12 of them.  They move so much it's hard to get a count.

The water sprinklers are great!

She loves to look at the fish. 

 The blue lobster is neat.

 It seems that every couple of months they change the type of jellyfish on display.

 We have many types of seahorses.  

 Xuelian really liked this fish.

 This tank has stingrays that the kids can touch.  It is always a crowded spot.

 This is a baby sea otter he has grown a lot since the last time we were here.  He kept rolling around in the ice tub.

 Every kids favorite place KIDS KINGDOM.  Xuelian climbed the cargo net

 and came down one of the big slides.  She just kept doing this again and again for about 20 minutes.

 She had a great time.  We are usually here for an hour if friends come with us.  It was hot and Xuelian wanted to get to the ice cream stand.

 The bridge is also fun.  It was closed the last time we were here.  She was so happy it was open again.

 We made it to the ice cream stand and the snowcone won out.  She can never resist the opportunity to show off a blue tongue.

 The second set of water sprinklers.  This one was really needed.  She got absolutely soaked and felt so much better.  The heat was really starting to kick in.

 I love that we have to pass the tigers a second time to leave the zoo.  I got a bunch of good pictures.

 Well that was our day.  I think I need a nap.