The Zoo, or, Chicago in the Winter

Chicago's infamous winter failed to live up to its reputation and we had a lovely sunny week. As such, my long awaited trip to the zoo finally happened. J and I actually ended up going twice because (1) it's free, (2) it's awesome, and (3) we were hoping to see the male lion the second time because we were not able to see him the first time (more on this later).

Other than the adorable new baby gibbon, the coolest thing at the zoo was definitely the conservatory.

Not only was it beautiful, but they kept it heated at like 80 degrees. It was like being transported to an island paradise.

For some reason, there were tiny dinosaurs in the fern room.

One-month old gibbon bothering his dad.

The famous sausage tree.

Mr. Silverback was not a fan of the camera.

Poison dart frog

We got pretty lucky and the animals seemed to come out of their enclosures just as J and I approached. The rhino walked directly toward us, paused, and then turned around and went back in. A seal, submerged underwater, popped its head up just as we walked up and then dipped back down as if to hide from the other onlookers. Obviously someone told them we were coming ahead of time.

Unfortunately, we found out that the male lion, Adelor, passed away a couple of weeks ago. The female lion looked a tad morose.

In non-animal news (yes, I do occasionally have some), I'll be very busy in the coming weeks because I'm going to be published! Unfortunately, it's only in a boring legal journal that few people read. But published is published and I'm just happy for the opportunity.