Dear Aunt Daniela...

Before you really knew us, it was over a year ago in fact, you gave us an amazing gift.  For Christmas you generously spoiled us with a membership to the Oregon Zoo.  We have gone many times in the last 12 months, but I think this last time was our best ever.

We had a dusting of snow and we were anxious for an adventure.  After driving through Portland's west hills, we arrived at the zoo.  Aha!  What better to do on a cold, snowy day than to go and see the polar bears.

On our way we found mounds of snow...

And we didn't have to share it with anyone...we were almost the only ones at the zoo (besides the animals of course).  There were signs warning that many animals may be hiding away, protecting themselves from the cold weather.  But, we found that many animals were just as excited as we were about snow, and they too were looking for adventures.

 We watched the bobcat slink down his tree.

 and saw a lazy crocodile waiting for a snack to snap.   The leopards were out, we have never seen them before!  And we got so close to one while it was taking a rest in it's den.

We saw the tigers roaming around their cage and then watched one pick a sunny spot to stretch out and warm up.  We also got to see the lions, elephants, penguins, monkeys, turtles, ducks, big horn sheep, and the sea lions (where we stayed for quite some time, watching them swim and hearing them make their funny noises).  I did NOT take enough pictures!

But, nothing compared to the polar bears.  They were all we imagined.  When we first arrived, just the female was out.  She walked slowly around, seeming to be a little sad or tired.  She bopped around a few toys, but we commented on how hard it must be for her to be living in this place.  Then, out from their cave came the male.  He was HUGE.  His feet were bigger than our heads.  As soon as the girl saw him, she perked up.  She started to play a little more.  She started to wander over to the pool.

The male followed her.  First, they threw all their toys into the water.  Then the both danced around on the edge for a long time.  The water must have been freezing!  After a long time, the female finally jumped into the water, and we cheered for her!  She was so happy once she got in.

 Then they really started playing.  She put buckets on her head, played with the ball in the water, and did flips and turns all over the place.  It was so fun to watch her!

The very best part, was seeing the male and female together.  She would push a toy to the side of the pool, just outside of the male's reach.  If it started to float closer to him, she would wait and then just before he could reach it she would grab it and swim away.  We could tell she really wanted him to get in and play with her.  They even played tug of war with a branch, but she could not pull him into the water.  We imagined what they were saying to each other, how they were teasing one another, that they were probably laughing together.  We stayed at the polar bear exhibit for almost an hour.  Only our hungry tummies and cold toes finally pulled us away.

 We completely skipped lunch and nap time to stay longer with the polar bears.  When we left the zoo several hours later, we had such big smiles and incredible memories.  After a quick bite of lunch, we turned the heat all the way up in the suburban and started to get warm.  Soon, all the kids were sound asleep and I drove home back through the hills of snow.

When we got back to the house and the kids started to wake up, Silas said to me 'Mom, this was a really great day.  Thank you for taking us to the zoo and for having rest time in the car, watching the snow.'

Aunt Daniela, thank you.  Thank you for loving us generously before you knew us deeply.  Thank you for your thoughtfulness and your sincere heart.  Thank you for giving us our zoo pass, and making this really great day possible.


 PS, this was Trey while we were at the zoo.  He didn't watch the polar bears for very long, but he was a serious trooper.

We love you, Aunt Daniela!