Panda Watching

We spent a nice part of the day at the National Zoo today. It doesn't cost anything to get in to the zoo, however the parking is quite pricey. It's not a flat rate. They charge you by the amount of time you were there. We were there for 3 hours and owed $15.00. Which is still not much considering there were 5 of us. I think it would have been easier for me to pay the $3.00 per person to get in than the $15.00 to park. Not that it matters, it just seems like every where we go we're forking out money for parking. $15 for the zoo, $15 for the beach...geez. We really liked this zoo although we were a little disappointed that some of the animals we wanted to see weren't out. We did get to see a lot though. One thing that we thought was super neat was the rain forest in the Amazonia exhibit. There were monkeys jumping around and we also saw a sloth hanging around. It was really neat because they were just right there with you (with lots of signs that said to stay 5 feet away from them). I thought the monkeys were pretty cute until I tried to take a picture of one and he threw a big leaf at me. Brat...lol. Another thing that I really liked was a big tank that had a bunch of stingrays and other kinds of fish in it. It didn't have a lid on it. The top came about to my waist. There were signs around that said not to put your hands in the water or lean over the top. I was minding my own business when one decided to make a big splash right in front of me. He darn near gave me a heart attack...lol. I think one of Cassie's favorite things was this blue crab. How neat is he? She loves crabs you see.

My favorite thing was the Giant Pandas! They're SO pretty! My main reason for going was to see Mei Xiang. She's so pretty! I didn't get any good pictures of her because she was sleeping behind glass in the Panda Habitat, but I did get some really cute pictures of her 3 year old baby boy named Tai Shan. That's who these 3 pictures are of.

I did manage to sneak one picture of Tian Tian, although it wasn't a very clear one. I took it inside the Panda Habitat behind the glass. He was tearing in to this bamboo and it was so much fun to watch that I had to post a pic.

I really loved the pandas and can't wait to find out if Mei Xiang is gonna have a baby this month. There's a Panda Cam online. If any of you care to watch them go here and scroll down until you see the Panda Cam. It's really neat!

I can't wait to find out what we'll be doing tomorrow! I'm spending the morning showing a friend how to make flat folds and then I think we're venturing out again when I get back. I hope you're all having a great Summer!

P.S. My wounds are feeling much better. I'm trying to talk Mike in to another beach trip because I got such a raw deal on the last one LOL!