Meet Me in St. Louis

We decided to meet grandparents half-way, and met for the weekend in St. Louis. We enjoyed our time together and especially the opportunity to go the LDS temple there and enjoy the free zoo too. It was a LOT of walking, and was a pretty humid day too… I was happy after just seeing the hippos, but the kids had to see EVERYTHING (even though most of the animals were hot and tired and napping in hiding)! So it was a long day and they were pretty tired out after our two days of hotel swimming and playing together.


I’m not an animal lover by any means, but I think that the hippo is my new favourite. He was so extraordinary to watch, and I loved learning all these fun tidbits, humor me while I share my excitement:
-a hippo can hold its breath for five minutes under water
-hippos ooze a pink “slime” that protects them from sunburn and also helps wounds from getting infected
-its blubber helps it to be more buoyant so it can float in water
-hippos spend most of their lives in water, that’s where they mate, give birth, play and even fight
-its ears are on the top of its head so that the hippo can be mostly under water but still hear what’s going on above… if the whole head goes underwater, the ears swivel to shake out the water when the hippo resurfaces
-the eyes also sit on the top of its head so the hippo can be mostly underwater and still see what’s going on above
-the jawbone conducts sound waves, so a hippo with its jaw submerged can hear sounds above and below the water at the same time!
-nostrils are on top so that the hippo can breath while mostly underwater, when submerged the nostrils close
-when the hippo relieves himself, his tail swishes back and forth so that the dung flings around into tiny pieces so that fish can more easily eat and digest!!!


Always a fun time with family… and I love these mini-vacays better than the week-long ones! Less laundry!