Just thought we'd talk about the fluffy zoo animals...

Saturday was a fantastic day in my book. Ben and I went to the zoo, and then we went and saw STOMP at the Capitol Theater. It was fun to do something besides the usual movies and just hanging out. We had a great time.

Before we went to the zoo, we went to Siegfried's German Deli in Salt Lake. It was pretty good! I got a (safe!) reuben sandwich and tried some of Ben's spaetzle (I'm guessing I spelled that wrong)--an egg noodle dish with gravy on it. I've heard about this deli for awhile, both from one of my former co-workers and from my bro-in-law and sister. Adam, the co-worker, raves about it, and would even try to persuade me to make a special trip up to Salt Lake just to pick food up from there for lunch. He knew that was ridiculous, of course, but I guess it was that good. My bro-in-law and sister were not thusly impressed. I thought it was great, but then again, it doesn't take much to please my palate, as I can usually find something I like at most places. Anyway...give it a try if you're in the area.

After lunch, we went to the zoo and met up with Ben's brother (Rob), sister-in-law (Mindy), and his two nephews (Jonah and Kai). It was fun going around the zoo with little kids who were in awe of things. I mean, I've never been to Hogle Zoo before last Saturday, so I was kind of a little in awe myself. It was a fun time. Enough to blog about, right? Here are some pictures of a few of the animals...these were taken from my phone.

Bears, fighting/playing


Elephants (the one in front kept walking backwards...we started making beeping sounds at it...'she's backin' up!')


Giraffe (in case you couldn't tell by the obvious qualities it has)

After walking around for a bit, we went to the bird show they have there. They have some pretty cool specimens there! We got to hear their parrot talk and sing, see some cool falcons and eagles and owls...and they almost all flew right over our heads. It was surprising how close they got without hitting anyone. I was glad Ben mentioned that we should go to it, because it was really fascinating to learn about birds and watch them. I mean, it was cheesy, but there were little kids there, so it was a fun time.

Ben's parents were going to come down and go to STOMP with Rob and Mindy, but for one reason or another, they couldn't make it...so, that means Ben and I got the tickets! I'd heard of STOMP before, and I knew it was a percussion group that used different everyday items to make songs, but I didn't expect how cool it was going to be! Seriously, everything they did was really great, and I kept thinking, "Wow! These people are amazing!" The performers were great. They didn't really say a word, but it was humorous and fantastic, all at once. I think my favorite part was when they all got different sizes of this bendy pipe stuff and hit it on the floor and used their hands and stuff to make noise. What a cool song! I was quite impressed by it all.