Zappy Zoo to You Too.

I was scheduled to work today from 3-10pm, but my shift just got cancelled.  Blogging time procured.  :)

So Annika's first four months post-transplant were rough.  Even though she was healing well, she was extremely restricted due to immuno-suppression.  No school, no church, no play dates with friends...for weeks it felt like our only social outings were the frequent trips back to the hospital for lab work and clinic visits.  As a person who enjoys getting out of the house, I thought I might lose my mind.

Fortunately, my sweet friend Julie James came to the rescue and gifted our family an annual zoo pass.  These trips to the zoo were perfect.  Most of the animals were outside, so we could stay safe in the fresh air outdoors.  Even when we went inside, the place was nearly empty, helping Annika to stay healthy during the long winter flu season.

Here's Annika's first trip to the zoo (January 22nd.)  You can see that her face is still pretty puffy from being on such high doses of prednisone (a steroid.)

She wore her tiger hat, scarf, and gloves for the special occasion.

Given her affinity for felines, we checked out the snow leopard mama with her two new cubs.

Naturally we visited the not-so-big cats as well, like this deceptively fierce sand cat.

February 7th.  Annika's friend Wren joins us for our next zoo date.  The weather was rainy, but the girls still had a great time.

My favorite part was meeting this adorable baby gorilla.  Ir's been so fun watching him grow over the past months.  He keeps his Mom busy by getting up to all sorts of shenanigans.

As do these two...

February 25th

Gorillas grow quickly.

March 12th.  Talia and Eli join us as well.  We discovered that the zoo was being transformed with all these wire frame creatures in preparation for Zooluminate--a spring event where they light all the animals.  So fun!

A photographer's feast.

With a sign advising us that mating season was near, we found the polar bears to be quite restless.  The male kept chasing the poor lady all over.  Talia gets it.

March 19th.  We come back with NomiAnn and Papa Kay to share the colorful fun.  They were appropriately impressed, which says a lot for folks that hail from Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo.  I will say, the recent spring snowfall made the excursion particularly stunning.

Plus, who doesn't love a good snowball fight?

March 28th--we are back with two more friends, Alice and Aven.

Once again, this polar bear was the star of the show.  Still restless with spring energy, he swims this loop over and over, flipping around right against the glass for all to see.

Polar bear kisses.  I'm glad the glass is pretty thick.

April 15th.  We squeeze in a tax-day visit to the zoo with the Wells family just hours before driving to St. George.  Annika had a headaches so she stayed home, but Alesia made it!  Alesia had to postpone her flight to Salt Lake by a few days because she got the worst stomach bug of her life just hours before she was supposed to come.  (Teaching first grade will expose you to every virus in existence.)  We were all gutted when she didn't make it, knowing how she looks forward to these Utah trips every bit as much as we look forward to having her.  Thankfully, Alesia was feeling much better on Monday and able to fly.  Hooray! 

The giraffes were out and active in Alesia's honor.

Photo shoot with Simba.

This baby colobus monkey is pretty fun.  I had no idea they were born with all white fur.  Apparently colobus monkeys engage in alloparenting, where all the females in the troop share responsibility for raising the newborns.  No wonder we couldn't figure out which one was mom!

Best nature shot award goes to....Gregory!  Now that's a yawn worth remembering.

Alesia, we are SO glad you made it!

Janet and Greg, so fun to share the zoo with you too!  More great photo memories coming soon.