Lions and Tigers and Cute Baby Elephants!

Ever since I went off to college, I've made it to the zoo at least once a year. Most years, I've gone to the OKC Zoo. However, I have also made it to the Fort Worth Zoo, Tulsa Zoo, and Wichita Zoo during that time.

Again, most of those times were with Sherri. (In case you were unaware of the fact, Sherri is obsessed with the zoo. Really obsessed. Like, she's-been-getting-a-Zoo-Friends-Pass-for-several-years now-as-all-of-her-friends-trade-off-buying-it-as-a-Christmas-present kind of obsessed.) Occasionally it's been without her, but on those rare occasions I typically was accompanying a small child.

Therefore, it came as no surprise when Sherri informed all of us that she was going to the zoo on Saturday, and we were more than welcome to accompany her. Our friends Rapier Wit and Literary Cat were in town, and Walking Hyperbole's birthday was this past weekend, so a trip to the zoo seemed an excellent idea.

Unfortunately, Sherri ended up not getting to go with us on Saturday because of family, but the rest of us decided to go ahead and brave the heat and crowds because, well, it's the zoo! And we had plans! And there were animals to see!

(Sometimes I channel my inner five-year-old. I'll try to keep her under control.)

Since all of us have visited the OKC Zoo multiple times in the past, we did not do a full tour, instead choosing to visit the exhibits that most interested us that day. In particular, we were on a quest to see the baby elephant, Malee. I think Adorable Nurse would have thrown us to the alligator if we had skipped the baby elephant.


We did see several other animals, of course, and I even managed to grab a few decent shots along the way. Even though I've posted most of these elsewhere, it's my blog and I feel like showing them off. After all, not everybody frequents the same places I do!

One of the first animals you see when you enter the zoo is a rhino. As this was my first trip with my new camera, I was looking forward to giving it a workout here.

These are a couple of the prairie dogs that were brave enough to risk the heat. Even though the predicted high was only for the high-to-mid-80's, by the time we left that afternoon it was pushing 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Needless to say, most of the animals were taking an afternoon nap.

They looked quite adorable too.

Not all of them were snoozing the afternoon away, however. The black bears were full of energy.

This grizzly just kept walking the same circuit over and over again. It made me wonder what he was nervous about.

Of course, other animals were lucky and could just go for a swim to cool off. The sea lions were quite happy to be aquatic animals, and would have have teased the other animals if they'd been nearby to see.

Eventually, we succeeded in our quest and found the new Elephant Exhibit. (It's gorgeous!) Malee was also very active and willing to show off for the throngs of humans who'd gathered to gaze adoringly at her.

(Once again, I apologize for the lack of updating. I blame it on so many fantastic people coming to town for Memorial Day, the last of whom are finally home. Don't worry, I'll more posts about our adventures in the coming days.)