Snow! Adventure!

Everyone,

Today it snowed. A lot. Well, for Maryland. 9 inches and counting. I think that God knew that I needed a pick me up. So we got some really pretty snow. All sparkly and soft and white. Sugar snow I like to call it.

And what goes better with snow?
Isn't he adorable!? If you like something bigger, how about one of these?

Juice and I were talking about what to do today and he asked if there was something I wanted to do to help me feel better. I don't know what came over me but all I wanted to do was go to Tai Shan's farewell party at the Smithsonian Zoo. Tai Shan is the big guy you see above. Where is he going? He was born at our zoo the same year Butterfly was born. He's been the crown prince of the area since then.

So where is he going then? Well, the king and queen are on loan to us from China. And the little prince's (not so little at 170 lbs!) loan from China is up. Now that he's 4, he's ready to enter the dating scene. The dating scene is a little sparse here in the States so off to China he goes.

They had a big party with a bunch of experts out talking to people. We got to write a good bye card that will go on the plane with Tai Shan. We got a picture of him, some panda snacks (which we each had 3 of, they were good!) and we ALMOST got a free stuffed panda. They were giving out them to the first 50 kids and we were #58. Sad. Instead we bought plastic animals on sticks at the gift shop.

We got really lucky and were able to see Tai Shan out in the snow. Plus the red pandas (the above picture) were out and I've never seen them before! They were really cute!

By now, the kids were cold. They were crying. They were covered in snow. Butterfly didn't want to wear her boots so her feet were wet. I honestly didn't think this outing through enough. We spent some time in the panda house to warm up and decided to go see the monkeys. Pirate is big into monkeys lately and it's one of 3 words he says regularly.

We had a great time sliding down the hill to the ape house. We saw a lot of the apes playing in their habitats. Pirate actually cried when we left and not because he was cold. That kid sure does love monkeys.

We then got word that the zoo was closing early because of the snow and we hiked it back to the metro station. (With some hot chocolate to warm us up!)

What a fun day! Just what I needed. Snow, one of the best stuff + animals, another favorite of mine = one awesome day. Thanks Juice for indulging me.

Safire