Bear turned ELEVEN years old on Friday!
He opened his birthday presents first thing in the morning.
Friday was member's night at the club, and Bear decided he wanted to go there for the evening, birthday or not. I offered to bring a cake, but he said no. So his actual birthday didn't include a whole lot of celebrating, but member's night is always fun, so he had a nice evening anyway.
Saturday was our birthday outing. We had heard about a drive through safari park in Himeji, but hadn't been to see it yet. Both our kids are very into wildlife, so it seemed like a perfect outing. First we drove through the cheetah enclosure. It sure seems like I have seen cheetahs before, but maybe not up and moving around. This one was stunningly beautiful.
Bear and a capybara
Feeding the giraffe
There were dozens of other animals from all parts of the world. After the drive through we went to the petting area, with tamer types of animals.
Look closely at the sign and you'll see why Bear is covering his head.
The wildlife was nice and all, but I would have to say this was Bear's favorite part. A little enclosure of lap dogs. He wanted to stay all day. He sat down on the floor and this little dachshund came right up and made itself at home on his lap.
Then another one came along...
and now he has two dachshunds on his lap.
But then along came another one!
Dog pile on Bear!
If you sat on the ground, the dachshunds would just come up and climb into your lap. And they weren't there for just a short visit, either. They would snuggle up and close their eyes. They were there to stay. When we finally had to leave, we had to pick them up and forcibly remove them from our laps. It was really kind of hilarious and adorable. Bear was in heaven.
Beaver really wanted to touch the turkey, but it managed to stay just out of reach.
After the animals, we went to the amusement park. Amusement parks are ubiquitous in Japan and many of them are lame, but this one was pretty good. There were some good roller coasters and other fun rides. In spite of his generally cautious nature, Beaver loves roller coasters! Bear does too, but Mr. Mike had to go on the loop one by himself. None of us were quite that brave.
We finished the day with dinner at Bear's favorite restaurant. Such a fun day!
Tonight we celebrated with cake and ice cream after dinner.
Happy happy birthday darling boy!
