A weekend of wild animals

Our weekend was lots of fun, and, I realized as I was going through the photos, animal themed.   Saturday was a big day.....Susannah's first birthday party.   It was a costume party which meant that she was able to debut her halloween costume  a week early!    

Our little Sophie the Giraffe

I think the tail was my favorite part.

Here is the birthday butterfly Leyton with Susannah and the Daddys. 

I think she loved her costume, don't you?

Here are all the girls.   Far right is our friend Hillary, who came in all the way from Jacksonville, Florida for Leyton's big day.   (In case you are wondering, Peter was a gorilla and I was a zoo keeper.   Peter didn't get to wear his mask though, because the birthday girl cried everytime he put it on.) 

Susannah loved playing with all of Leyton's birthday presents.  

And she loved Miss Hillary.    So glad we got to spend the week with you Hil!   We miss you already!

This picture is random and doesn't really go with the animal themed weekend, but I had to post it because these are Susannah's first pair of big girl pjs.   By big girl I mean 2 pieces.   Peter and I were laughing about how they looked like Dr. Seuss pajamas and then when I was taking her picture, she kept pulling down this Dr. Seuss book and it just seemed post-worthy.

Sunday we headed for the Safari Park.   It is north of San Diego and is a part of the San Diego Zoo.  It features huge habitats and you can ride around in trucks and feed the animals. (we skipped this since we didn't think a two hour truck ride with Susannah in our laps would be the smartest choice.)  It is a beautiful park though, and we had a great day.

Susannah and Daddy before the bird show.   She loved watching the birds fly over.

Checking out the gorillas

Looks just like King Kong, right?

Here was the momma and her new baby.   Interesting carrying technique, isn't it?

We also saw this elephant family, including the little baby.    So cute.

Here is a view of the "African" habitat.   It is so vast and beautiful.

Susannah really loved the view.

Next we headed into bird aviary.   At first Susannah was a little suspicious,

but she warmed up quickly, 

and had two new friends before we knew it.   

All in all, a perfect family weekend!   Happy Birthday Leyton!   Thanks for a great party!