I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.

An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent.

Ha! This quote from Horton Hears a Who doesn't really have anything to do with this post other than it is about elephants. Ben and I are small group leaders with the head elephant keeper at the zoo. We asked him if it was possible for us to meet the elephants and he said we could. While we were on vacation from work last week we went to the zoo (which was 1/2 off until 12/31) and met up with our small group friend. We met Kelly the elephant (Tara, the other elephant, was out eating her Christmas tree) and she did some tricks for us. We also got to feed her, which was fun. We put food in our hands and Kelly inhaled it with her trunk and then put it in her mouth. So much fun!

Elephants eat Christmas trees?

Nate showed me her trunk right before I got to feed her.

Kelly showing off her nails.

Kelly waved at us with her trunk. She also answered questions by nodding her head yes or no.

Kelly showing off her mouth. Never seen the inside of an elephant's mouth!

Ben took this picture of the lion and I think it is pretty.

This panda partied a little too much the night before...

This panda was doing all kinds of tricks and showing off. I don't know which one is the boy and which one is the girl.
We haven't been to the zoo in several years, but it was fun! Several of the animals were not on exhibit, so they pretty much need to let you get in for half price since half the animals are not available. Maybe we'll go back in the spring!