Hogle Zoo

When Alex and I first started dating we talked about all the fun things we'd do this summer if it lasted that long. Nice huh. We were just trying to keep it real. Hogle Zoo, Real Salt Lake soccer games, Bees baseball games, museums, plays, concerts, it was a long list.

We been to two Bee's games and decided on July 5th to cross another off our summer o'fun list. Hogle Zoo. Considering it was a day after a holiday when everyone has the day off it wasn't too crowded. We had to park about 1/4 of a mile away but we're young so we hoofed it on over. We enjoy meandering around and looking at all the crazy beasts of the world. Cavy, lemur, camels, girafee, and other such strangeness. Like man eating drinking fountains!

The mama elephant had a baby elephant not too long ago. The marketing department for the zoo invited us to visit the new addition, baby Zuri with all sorts of flags around town, flyers, radio ads, and tv ads. Wait, isn't Zuri the name of Brangelina's baby? They named the elephant after a celeb's kid? I guess that's better than Courtney Cox & her crazy husband naming their kid Cocoa after the gorilla.
Ladies and gentelmen... I give you ZURI. Not sure if it's a girl or boy. Alex swore he saw dangly bits.

Here's Mama Elephant who received no notice at all for her fertility, gestational time, or delivery work. At least recognize that she pushed a freakin elephant out. Holy hannah!

An ostrich. Seriously, their middle toe is scary. If that thing flipped you off you'd apologize for being alive.

This is the girafee chapter. I don't know why but I took a ton of them. I think I was regretting not taking many other pictures so I went all out.



This cracked me up. This huge girafee is in the splits almost to the breaking point. It's little legs were trembling trying to get down far enough to eat that bush. No thought to kneel down. It was like watching siblings pulling apart the wishbone on Thanksgiving. I was seriously waiting to hear a snap.
I'm regretting not taking a picture of the girafee just behind him. It was making out with the wall like it hadn't been laid in a year. It was embarassing. Huge LONG tongue going up and down the wall. Up and down. I felt like I needed to look away to give him a moment.

Alex claims someone gave him the nickname Meerkat. Evidently they called his name and he poked his head out the window... like a meerkat.
I call him Muskrat on purpose to get a rise out of him. That's the kind of fabulous relationship we have.

We decided to take a rest and I took some more pictures... of the animals.

The underbiter

The long-tongued lamure

The stud-muff

The good-little roo

The sleepy-eyed blinker

That isn't an engagement ring, it's a ring I got from my great-grandma, who bought it from the gypsies about 70 years ago. I love that ring.

The smoocher

The wiger (woman-tiger)

The last place we went was the monkey house. This orangutan had the right idea. He had his head under a sheet, camped out in front of the AC unit.