Summer Date Series – Day at the Zoo – Sparkles and Sunshine Blog

Good morning!

How was everyone’s Labor Day weekend? Chandler and I spent the weekend unpacking (still haha) and we took Diesel to Dogwood Park where he had an absolute blast as always! For all of my Jacksonville natives, if you haven’t been to this dog park yet, you have to go!

This week’s summer date idea is one that can be done any time of the year and it’s fun for the whole family. I hope you’re excited because today, we’re headed to the zoo! I love the zoo because every state has one (and they’re not just in large cities), it’s a fun way to see all of your favorite animals, and it usually isn’t that expensive to go to.

Every Zoo has different attractions. The Jacksonville Zoo offers giraffe feeding, a fun train, 4D theater, a cute carousel and more! When we went to feed the giraffes, this older giraffe kept hogging the whole feeding area. Fun fact: if one giraffe is being fed, the others will not approach it because the giraffe will shove them away. The older giraffe was twenty years old which is actually really old for a giraffe!

Since he was also full, we ended up coming back to try to feed them later in the day and were able to feed this adorable baby. It’s crazy how this giant animal is still super young. I look at Diesel and I think he’s huge for his age and then I see this giraffe and I’m like…..yeah….haha 🙂

Of course I had to hop on the carousel. I have loved carousels since I was little and so as soon as I saw this one I got super excited!

Now, I have to share with you all a photo of me with my favorite animal in the world: the otter. I have always loved otters. So much, that my background on my computer at work is of an otter in the snow. It’s SO CUTE! Otters are such cool animals and they’re absolutely adorable. These guys knew I was their biggest fan too because they kept twirling all in the water being total show off’s. I loved it. 🙂

Chandler always makes fun of me and says I like such a mean animal. But they can’t all be mean….right? 🙂

If you’re looking to bring a little fashion to the zoo, I like to add an animal themed accessory, like this flamingo bag from Charming Charlie! It’s such a stand out piece and it’s small enough to only carry the essentials!