"Mama, look at the chicken"

Laura and I decided to go to the LA Zoo today.  We happen to be members so why not? I love the zoo!  I can remember going to the zoo when I was in elementary school.  It has changed a lot since then. The main difference is that all of the primate exhibits have been updated and made way better than they used to be.   They are much nicer places for these animals to live.  One exhibit that we usually don't see, because it is way up at the top of the zoo, is the ostrich exhibit.  One little boy told his mom to look at the chicken.  That is one big chicken!

I love these little guys.  They are the Meerkats.  They have recently gained popularity since the show Meerkat Manor came out on Animal Planet.  I got to watch a movie about these tiny creatures on the plane during my summer vacation.

Did I mention that I love the monkeys?  Actually this is not a monkey, it is a Silverback Gorilla.  This big guy runs the place.  He is the man with the plan, the head cheese.  He didn't want to turn around.  I think this is because there were about 25 people trying to take his picture.  Would you turn around?

I just love this great shot of a tiger taken by Laura.  I think he is trying not to fall in the water.  Cats hate water you know.  A tiger is basically a really big cat, right?

Here I am with a big Gorilla.  Luckily this one is made of metal.  I wish I could get this close to the real one.  Do you think he would be that friendly?

And of course my favorite area of the zoo is the orangutan exhibit.  They have all of these ropes and straps hanging around for them to swing from and climb on.  They just get to play all day long.  I am very jealous.  It is because of these guys that I am going to name our first daughter "Oranga."  That way her full name will be "Oranga Laing."  Say it all together without pausing and you'll get why.  Have you ever been to the zoo?  If so, what is your favorite area? Tell us about it.

"What are you looking at?"

What did you do with your extra hour?

Last night was Daylight Savings time. This is when you change your clocks either one hour ahead or one hour back. This time we set our clocks one hour back leaving us with extra time do whatever we wanted. Rather than sleep that extra hour away, we decided to go on a day-hike with our dog Sandy. Actually, she is Laura's parent's dog. We are dog sitting while they are in China. Check out this great shot of our burned up mountains which rise high above the Crescenta Valley.

I have been wanting to check out some of the trails in the Verdugo Mountains, which we can see every day from our classroom windows. First, we ventured up a small trail in the back of CV park. I always see this trail when I run at CV park but have never gone up it before. We found out the it leads to a small waterfall which only runs when it is raining. I would not recommend going up this trail because it is hard to tell where the trail goes. This is Laura with Sandy.

Here I am walking Sandy down the CV park trail. We decided to go and check out the Whiting Woods trail, which I read about on the Internet. This trail is actually a fire road so it is not easy to get lost.

Watch the video below to see how our day went.

Tell us what you did with your extra hour on Sunday. I hope you didn't spend it playing video games. The great thing about living in Southern California is that you have so many things you can do in nature. Whether it is a day at the beach or a hike in the hills, get outside and use some of that energy!

Isn't she cute?