"It's all happening at the zoo" --Paul Simon

The San Diego Zoo is the best zoo I've ever been to. Not only do they have a huge collection of animals and amazing exhibits that house them, but they also rescue animals in danger from all over the world. Below are pictures of some of our favorite animals: Mom loves the giraffes (and I was really impressed that Nate was able to get all five of them in the same picture!), giant pandas have been my favorite since I was 10, and the polar bears have become a family favorite because they are so much fun to watch in the water!



We love getting the deluxe tickets, which include unlimited trips on the Skyfari (see pics of us below) and the buses. Especially when it's hot, there is nothing better than climbing on the bus and just riding around for a while. Sometimes the kids even take a nap for a little while, but not this year.
After nearly dehydrating ourselves at Sea World the day before, we smartened up and bought a souvenir cup that could be refilled as many times as necessary (we loved the lemonade and ice water). All of us felt much better health-wise and we loved seeing the animals from the shady bus.

We bought Sofia this cute bucket hat. She wasn't as thrilled with it as we were, but it has an elastic strap to keep it on her head and we've gotten plenty of use out of it since. And honestly, isn't she a cutie?

Ryan befriended this sweet orangutan. She is an older resident of the zoo and loves kids. Ryan loved getting close to the glass and saying hello.
After the zoo, we picked Matt up from the airport because he was overnighting in San Diego. We bought some BBQ and enjoyed it on the roof of Linda's apartment (like we did last year).


Then we walked out on some sandstone cliffs to watch the sunset. Ryan enjoyed watching the waves with Uncle Matt.

All in all, another fine day in paradise!