Z-O-O spells Zoo!

Obviously, one of the big reasons we went on our road trip was to see family. Loradona herself was a huge draw, since I hadn't seen her since she left on her mission (and she'd never met Craig!), and my parents were fantastic. But when we had the chance to spend the day with my cousin Mariana, we jumped at the chance... and took a trip to the zoo.

With Aunt Loradona, too, of course!

Calista was begging to see the polar bears from the moment we got there. We don't have polar bears at the zoo in Calgary, so she enjoyed seeing them. And growling.

Craig didn't pay attention to the polar bears, because Kyler's hair is more interesting.

We saw basically everything, which is what you do when you don't have a zoo pass!

I especially liked the ocean/Stellar Cove area, I think mostly because there aren't really aquariums in Calgary.

Waiting for the water spout.

 With the Sea Lion.

Climbing through logs.

Everywhere Calista saw the word "zoo," she would announce loudly, and repeatedly, "Z-O-O! That spells zoo!"

Calista letting Craig be taller than her!

Because he was almost walking, at a number of the exhibits we let Craig out to get a closer look at the animals.

Like the crocodile.

My favorite moment of the trip was when we were at the condors. They were so interested in Craig.

The zookeeper thought it was because they thought he might be a condor - he had a black jacket and is about the right size... hopefully they wanted him to join them, not just to eat him.

My second favorite was seeing the little pygmy goats, Because it was winter, their exhibit was "closed," which means you can't go in and pet them, but they are still out in the yard if they want to be, and so we were able to see and pet them.

Calista thought it was so funny that they'd kiss her hand or something. Craig had to be convinced a bit to touch them.

Once he did, every time he'd touch one and the pull his hand quickly away, giggling.

And an honorable mention for my favorite moment of the zoo trip: In the aviary, one of the birds (a hamerhop), flew right down next to Calista.

She listened to us when we told her to stay still and not go towards it, and it hung around for a few seconds (long enough to take a picture, at least!), before moving on.

I'm pretty sure the highlight of the trip for Calista ended up being Marianna.

They were best buds.

PLUS, after we were finished with the zoo, we went out to eat with the whole family and got lots of yummy food... ahh, Mongolian Grill...