The Cahill Family: Happy Birthday, Gigi!

We had another family birthday this week. My mom, aka Gigi, celebrated her 50 something birthday on Wednesday! We haven't had the opportunity to celebrate as a family yet, but today, Mary Frances, Sally and I took my mom to the Atlanta Zoo. We had the most perfect fall weather, which all of the animals seemed to enjoy too. It was the perfect day to go to the zoo!

Mary Frances with the birthday girl!

Walking with Aunt Sally and Gigi

Mary Frances is at such a fun age where she is really starting to engage and be able to enjoy seeing the animals. We got to the zoo first thing this morning and all of the animals seemed to be frisky with the fall air. This meant they were putting on a show for all of us to enjoy. Mary Frances loved looking at them and watching their activity. Some of her favorite animals/activities seemed to be the elephants, the goats in the petting zoo, and the gorillas.

Checking out the goats with Aunt Sally

Touching his head :)

Hanging out with "Willie B"

If you look closely, you'll see a baby kangaroo in that pouch!

The mama tiger. We got to see her 3 month old babies play!
They were so cute!

Looks cozy, doesn't it?

We seemed to circle the elephants the most. We saw them eat, walk in their inside habitat and play with a ball outside. If you have been around Mary Frances at all, you know she loves balls! When we were leaving the zoo, we saw one of the elephants playing with a red ball and Mary Frances just thought that was the greatest thing ever! She just kept saying, "ball!" over and over.

Elephants :)

The gorillas were especially spectacular. If you are from Atlanta or have been to the Atlanta zoo, you will know what I am talking about. When we went into the inside gorilla observation room, it seemed like all of the gorillas were in front of us. There were probably about 10 - 15 gorillas just outside of the observation window. We watched for probably 15 minutes as they roamed about, eating, playing and relaxing. We saw two mothers walking around with their babies hanging on for a ride. One baby rode on it's mother's back and the other baby clung onto the mother's leg. It was so neat to see! Mary Frances enjoyed watching as well. She kept telling us "ni ni" since the gorilla we usually read about in Good Night Gorilla goes to bed at the end of the book.