California Part Three: The Desert

The day before I left California drove out to the desert to visit what was sort of a zoological garden exhibiting desert life.  There were cacti galore in all shapes and sizes, and lots of interesting animals that thrive in dry environments.  There were also several snakes in the arms of volunteers.  I avoided those successfully, and thankfully didn’t encounter any snakes on the ground!  The weather was splendid, and we had a very fun time roaming the large grounds, looking at palm trees and oases (I learned so much about palm trees that I never knew before) giraffes and African desert animals, tortoises, and all sorts of fun things.

May I just say that these children have amazing map navigation skills.

There were fragrant flowers, butterflies, hummingbirds, and all sorts of interesting shaped cacti.

Baby Kari was utterly and completely adorable all day long.  It was warm, so she mainly hung around in her little purple outfit, with her dimply wrists and rolling knees.  I love baby drool, especially on other people’s babies!  It is so precious, and without a doubt disappears at some point, such a cute baby thing that isn’t cute any other time in life.