Double Digits

As May was quickly coming to an end we celebrated Rachel's 10th birthday! 

Since the zoo has some fun free goodies on your birthday, Rachel was pretty excited to make a visit. When we arrived we noticed that this massive hippo, which normally never leaves his little pond, was on a mission. 

He was chasing little ducklings which then jumped into his pond. They were swimming away so happily.

I believe the hippo felt like they were invading his territory, so he made a mad dash back into his pond. While I've never seen a hippo move so quickly, those ducklings made a faster getaway. It was a pretty incredible sight to behold. The duckilngs got away and the crowd cheered.

After quite the show from the hippo we headed over to feed the Lorikeets. These birds seem to be on a daily sugar high from the continual feeding of the sugar water mixture.

They do tend to fly away when they've had too much though, so maybe not a sugar high? I think when they're full they like to climb to higher ground and hide, but tall parents always find them.

There's something about flamingoes isn't there? It takes talent to stand on such a skinny little leg. When you've got two why only use one?

The gorillas were also on the move climbing and checking out the crowd. How would you like to run into that guy in a forest?

Birthdays also include a free ride on the carousel and when the children are under a certain height they get to ride free too! The children have so much fun on this thing that just makes me dizzy and throws off my equilibrium.

This little mama's girl would rather hang out with me than ride the carousel. How sweet is she?

This elegphant was on a mission to move a massive tree trunk. It must be similar to children throwing a ball around.

After a small storm blew in we decided we should head home and keep the party going. I finished Rachel's cupcakes while she licked the frosting. I found a fun little cupcake book at the library called Trophy Cupcakes. Rachel thumbed through it and decided she wanted Bananas Foster cupcakes. 

The cupcakes were fantastic and we had a blast celebrating our new 10 year old's birthday!