Baby Elephant Love

We went to the zoo today.  Before I gush about the baby elephant, let me just remind you that it is November.  In Utah. Which should mean cold and snow and all the loveliness that goes with it, but today it was 60 degrees and sunshiny.  Ah winter, I miss you.  Moving on.  When we woke up this morning I told Scott we should take Creamie to the zoo.  She is starting to make animal sounds (she either growls at them, or just says “Hi”, it’s very funny) and I thought at least we should do something enjoyable in this freaky November weather.  As he was looking up driving directions/checking zoo hours/prices/blah blah blah, he opened an email from my sister, who, coincidentally, went to the zoo on Wednesday.  She had sent along a little video that she/her-friend-she-was-with took of the new baby elephant, Zuri. She is three months old, and 400 pounds of adorableness.

It was fate.  Now of course we had to go, or risk angering the gods, or something.  We checked back on Zuri about 6 times, but didn’t get to watch her have a bath/drink/run through the sprinkler. (So I came home and watched this video again… and again.)  But we did get up close and personal with the orangutan (why have I always said this ‘orangutang‘ ?), saw the baby giraffe, and the baby colobus monkey,(bumper year for babies at the zoo) and rode the train and the carousel (on the elephant, of course)  But, mostly I just wanted to go back and watch the baby elephant.  You should watch that video again…

Creamies first carousel ride

So, now after you’ve seen it again, and again and again, tell me if you don’t have the uncontrollable urge to purchase baby elephant paraphernalia.  I know.  I have it too.  I hear they are in the developing stages of a pill for that.   I somehow made it out of the zoo without spending any of last months paycheck (or next months) on stuffed toys and a commemorative rubber elephant mask.  This evening, after the zoo festivities were over, we went to the thrift store and, amazingly, I found a pattern for a little elephant softie.  And it was only a quarter, which was a heck of a lot better than the between $18 and one million dollars for the elephants at the zoo gift shop.   So I paid for my pattern (and numerous other things in my arms) and we headed home.  After Creamie was in bed I was checking up on my favorite blogs and lo and behold… more elephants!

Parsley and Beet image via http://www.vintagericrac.blogspot.com

I have been kind of in love with these little elephants since I first saw them.  And the pattern is now available!  This is seriously fate, people!  Creamie, who kept saying “Hi” to little Zuri, is getting some baby elephant love for Christmas…. or her birthday…. or  sometime next September (we’ll see where “elephant” ends up in the huge stack of crafty projects to work on before Christmas) .  And even though I have one perfectly good elephant pattern (I mean, I think it’s perfectly good… you never can tell with thrift store purchases)  I am still going to buy this other one.  I mean seriously, how can you not love an elephant whose name is Parsley…. or Beet… or Zuri (see aforementioned adorableness.)  Sigh.  I love me some good baby elephants.  And a good crinkle nose face.