Lately, I’m a trying a little harder to remind myself of happy things. To keep (mostly) happy thoughts. This day was definitely a happy one–meeting and just being among 15 penguins to surprise my husband for his 30th birthday. Penguins are his absolute favorite animals so he was over the moon.
Here’s a little background about them: These penguins were illegally smuggled from South Africa a few years ago and, upon arrival, were offered to the nearest aquarium that could take them in. One reason they weren’t returned was because they’d likely been exposed to things other wild penguins didn’t have natural defenses against.
They were probably up to my mid-calf, so smaller than I imagined, and not shy at all. They played with my jacket string, shoe laces, and sneakers. One kept picking at my husband’s Achilles’ tendon! It was a really great experience and we definitely want to take our baby when he’s older.
Here are some photos of our penguin encounter:
We did a penguin encounter several years ago and it was amazing.